Taxonomy

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Taxonomy \Tax*on"o*my\ (t[a^]ks*[o^]n"[-o]*m[y^]), n. [Gr.
     ta`xis an arrangement, order + no`mos a law.]
     1. That division of the natural sciences which treats of the
        classification of animals and plants, primarily by
        consideration of their natural relationships with respect
        to their structure or genetic origin; the laws or


        principles of classification; systematics.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     2. A systematic arrangement of objects or concepts showing
        the relations between them, especially one including a
        hierarchical arrangement of types in which categories of
        objects are classified as subtypes of more abstract
        categories, starting from one or a small number of top
        categories, and descending to more specific types through
        an arbitrary number of levels. An {ontology} usually
        contains a taxonomy as one of the important principles of
        organization.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  taxonomy
       n 1: a classification of organisms into groups based on
            similarities of structure or origin etc
       2: (biology) study of the general principles of scientific
          classification
       3: practice of classifying plants and animals according to
          their presumed natural relationships

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  112 Moby Thesaurus words for "taxonomy":
     aerobiology, agrobiology, analysis, anatomy, animal physiology,
     anthropology, antonomasia, arrangement, assortment, astrobiology,
     bacteriology, binomial nomenclature, biochemics, biochemistry,
     biochemy, bioecology, biological science, biology, biometrics,
     biometry, bionics, bionomics, biophysics, biosystematics,
     biosystematy, botany, cataloging, categorization, cell physiology,
     class, classification, codification, comparative anatomy,
     conchology, cryobiology, culling, cybernetics, cytology, division,
     ecology, electrobiology, embryology, entomology, enzymology,
     ethnobiology, ethology, exobiology, family, filing, genetics,
     genus, glossology, gnotobiotics, gradation, grading, grouping,
     helminthology, herpetology, ichthyology, indexing, kingdom,
     life science, malacology, mammalogy, microbiology,
     molecular biology, nomenclature, onomastics, onomatology, order,
     orismology, ornithology, pharmacology, phylum, physiology,
     pigeonholing, place-names, place-naming, placement, polyonymy,
     protozoology, radiobiology, ranging, ranking, rating, screening,
     selection, sifting, sorting, sorting out, species, stratification,
     subdivision, subordination, systematics, tabulation, taxidermy,
     terminology, toponymy, triage, trinomialism, typology, virology,
     xenobiology, zoogeography, zoography, zoology, zoonomy,
     zoopathology, zoophysics, zootaxy, zootomy