n.
Pronunciation: f ī - ' lä-j ə -n ē
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -nies
Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary
Date: circa 1872
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 organism
3 : the history or course of the development of something (as a word or custom)