Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
form family

form family

9.9
A temporary group scientists use for plants or animals when it is not clear how they are related
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : familia de forma
  • The researcher assigned several rare fungi to a separate form family due to uncertainty about their origins.

Examples

  • Taxonomists sometimes use a form family when a group does not fit neatly into established families.

  • Because the relationships among these plants remain unclear, they are grouped within a provisional form family.

  • The form family classification is often debated among scientists.

  • Many species belong to the same form family.

  • Taxonomists sometimes use a form family when a group does not fit neatly into established families.

  • Because the relationships among these plants remain unclear, they are grouped within a provisional form family.

  • The researcher assigned several rare fungi to a separate form family due to uncertainty about their origins.

Surface Forms

form family singular
form families plural

Morphology

form + family

The constituents 'form' and 'family' give a clear clue that this is a grouping based on form, so a learner who knows both words could infer it refers to a kind of classificatory group. However, the specific technical sense—an artificial taxonomic category (ranked between order and genus) and its specialized usage—cannot be fully predicted from the parts alone, making the expression only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Form family comes from the idea of grouping animals or plants by their form, meaning their 'shape' or 'look', when scientists are 'not sure' how they are really related. The word family simply means a 'group', so form family is a 'temporary' group made because members look alike rather than because we know they belong together.