phylogeny / philogyny
Aug. 13th, 2010 07:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordAfter yesterday, how about another doublet:
phylogeny (faye-LOJ-uh-nee) - n., the evolutionary history of a group of genetically related organisms; the historical development of something (such as an ethnic group, a concept, and so on).
philogyny (fi-LOJ-uh-nee) - n., love of or fondness for women.
Ah, the difference a vowel can make on the meaning. Or in this case, it's actually two difference, but it's easy to miss one as they're pronounced the same. The former was first used in English by Darwin, borrowing from German Phylogenie, coined in 1866 by Ernst Haeckel from Greek roots phylon, race, tribe + -geneia, origin, from -genes, born. It is to be contrasted with ontogeny, the developmental history of a single organism (starting from fertilization). The latter was borrowed around 1750 from Greek (possibly with a detour through Latin) philogynía, from philein, to love + gynē, woman. It is to be contrasted with misogyny, hatred of women (and which I keep misspelling as mysogyny, because the heavens know it doesn't have enough Ys).
---L.
phylogeny (faye-LOJ-uh-nee) - n., the evolutionary history of a group of genetically related organisms; the historical development of something (such as an ethnic group, a concept, and so on).
philogyny (fi-LOJ-uh-nee) - n., love of or fondness for women.
Ah, the difference a vowel can make on the meaning. Or in this case, it's actually two difference, but it's easy to miss one as they're pronounced the same. The former was first used in English by Darwin, borrowing from German Phylogenie, coined in 1866 by Ernst Haeckel from Greek roots phylon, race, tribe + -geneia, origin, from -genes, born. It is to be contrasted with ontogeny, the developmental history of a single organism (starting from fertilization). The latter was borrowed around 1750 from Greek (possibly with a detour through Latin) philogynía, from philein, to love + gynē, woman. It is to be contrasted with misogyny, hatred of women (and which I keep misspelling as mysogyny, because the heavens know it doesn't have enough Ys).
---L.
