- the primary subdivision of a taxonomic kingdom, grouping together all classes of organisms that have the same body plan.
- a category consisting of language stocks that, because of cognates in vocabulary, are considered likely to be related by common origin.
- a major taxonomic division of living organisms that contain one or more classes. An example is the phylum Arthropoda (insects, crustaceans, arachnids, etc, and myriapods)
- any analogous group, such as a group of related language families or linguistic stocks
