n.
Pronunciation: kl ə - ' dis-tiks, kla-
Function: noun plural but singular in construction
Date: 1965
: a system of biological taxonomy that defines taxa uniquely by shared characteristics not found in ancestral groups and uses inferred evolutionary relationships to arrange taxa in a branching hierarchy such that all members of a given taxon have the same ancestors
– cla · dist \ ' kla-dist, ' kl ā - \ noun
– cla · dis · tic \ kl ə - ' dis-tik, kla- \ adjective
– cla · dis · ti · cal · ly \ -ti-k( ə -)l ē \ adverb