taxonomic

Everyday

1. Taxonomic means to do with sorting living things into named groups, such as kingdom, family, genus and species. tree →
2. More broadly, it means to do with any careful system of naming and grouping things. tree →

In the lessons

In science it comes up when pupils learn how living things are classified: a taxonomic group, a taxonomic key, taxonomic rank. It tells the reader that things are being sorted into groups by shared features. Phrases: taxonomic group, taxonomic key, taxonomic name, taxonomic rank.

Examples

• Lions and tigers are in the same taxonomic family, the cat family. tree →
• Our class made a taxonomic key to sort the minibeasts we found. tree →
• Species is the smallest main taxonomic rank. tree →
• Scientists argued about the taxonomic place of the giant panda for years. tree →
• A taxonomic name is usually written in Latin, like Homo sapiens. tree →
• The museum labels show each fossil's taxonomic group. tree →
• The library uses a kind of taxonomic system to sort books by subject. tree →

Note

Formal science word; adjective only. Related: taxonomy (the system or science of classifying), taxonomist (a scientist who classifies). Stress: tax-o-NOM-ic. Do not confuse with taxidermy (stuffing dead animals) or taxes (money paid to the government).