-mē, -mi noun
( -es )
Etymology: French taxonomie, from tax- + -nomie -nomy
1. : the study of the general principles of scientific classification : systematics
2. : the systematic distinguishing, ordering, and naming of type groups within a subject field : classification ; specifically : orderly classification of plants and animals according to their presumed natural relationships forming a basic biological discipline involving during its Linnaean period the firm establishment of binomial nomenclature and acceptance of the static concept of fixity of the species, during its Darwinian period the dynamic concept of speciation by natural selection, and during its modern Mendelian epoch an expansion to include study of the mechanisms underlying speciation and related processes (as raciation, variation) — compare biosystematy , cytotaxonomy , determine 5b