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phy·lum 'fī-ləm n, pl phy·la -lə a major group of animals or in some classifications plants sharing one or more fundamental characteristics that set them apart from all other animals and plants and forming a primary category of the animal or plant kingdom <the \phylum Arthropoda>
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phy·lum (fiґləm) pl. phyґla [L., from Gr. phylon race] a primary or main division of a kingdom, composed of a group of related classes; in the taxonomy of plants, the term division is used instead.Medical dictionary. 2011.