"genesis and evolution of a phylum," 1872 (in Darwin), from Ger. Phylogenie, coined 1866 by Ger. biologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel (1834-1919) from Gk. phylon "race" + -geneia "origin," from -genes "born."
Main Entry: phy·log·e·ny Pronunciation: fi-'läj-&-nE Function: noun Inflected Form: plural-nies 1: the evolutionary history of a kind of organism 2: the evolution of a genetically related group of organisms as distinguished from the development of the individual organismcalled also phylogenesis; —compare ONTOGENY