morphophyly

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noun

The direct study of the evolution of forms rather than observation of its supposed ontogenic recapitulation.

Opposite
physiophylymorphogeny
OriginGerman Morphophylogenie →
Scrabble 29
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Meanings

nounmorphophyly (uncountable)
  1. historicalrareuncountabletheory of recapitulationbiologyThe direct study of the evolution of forms rather than observation of its supposed ontogenic recapitulation.

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
physiophylymorphogeny

Origin

  1. GermanMorphophylogenie
  2. Englishmorphophyly

Simplified learned borrowing from German Morphophylogenie, itself from morph- + Phylogenie; equivalent to a reduction of morpho- + phylogeny to morpho- (“shape”) + -phyly (“tribehood”).

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

morphophyly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morphophyly

MLA

“morphophyly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morphophyly. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “morphophyly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morphophyly.

Source: morphophyly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.