relating to or characterized by descent from two ancestral groups of animals or plants
diphyletic in American English
(ˌdaɪfaɪˈlɛtɪk)
adjective
having two ancestral lines of descent
diphyletic in American English
(ˌdaifaiˈletɪk)
adjective
Biology
of or pertaining to a taxonomic group of organisms derived from two separate ancestral lines
Word origin
[1900–05; di-1 + phyletic]This word is first recorded in the period 1900–05. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: decompression, desensitize, geopolitics, hydroplane, internshipdi- is a prefix occurring in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “two,” “twice,” “double”(diphthong). On this model, di- is freely used in the formation of compound words (dicotyledon; dipolar) and in chemical terms (diatomic; disulfide)