*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of clade

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κλάδος (kládos, “shoot, branch”). Coined by British evolutionary biologist, philosopher, author Julian Huxley in 1957 in a paper titled The Three Types of Evolutionary Process in Natu

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2

Original entry ↗
noun

A group of animals or other organisms derived from a common ancestor species. · A higher level grouping of a genetic haplogroup.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κλάδος (kládos, “shoot, branch”). Coined by British evolutionary biologist, philosopher, author Julian Huxley in 1957 in a paper titled The Three Types of Evolutionary Process in Nature. Doublet of cladus and possibly holt.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*kelh₂-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "lbor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "κλάδος",
        "4": "",
        "5": "shoot, branch"
      },
      "expansion": "Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κλάδος (kládos, “shoot, branch”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "coin",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Q243419",
        "in": "1957"
      },
      "expansion": "Coined by British evolutionary biologist, philosopher, author Julian Huxley in 1957"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cladus"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of cladus"
    },
    {
      "name": "dbt",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "holt",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "holt"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "κλάδος",
      "κλάδος#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "cladus",
      "cladus#English"
    ],
    [
      "holt",
      "holt#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "word": "klad",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "lang_code": "eo",
      "word": "klado",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Estonian",
      "lang_code": "et",
      "word": "klaad",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "word": "kladi",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "word": "clade",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "word": "Klade",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "word": "klad",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "word": "клада",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "klada"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Volapük",
      "lang_code": "vo",
      "word": "klad",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A group of animals or other organisms derived from a common ancestor species.",
        "A higher level grouping of a genetic haplogroup."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "2a5c2a03172580bee40573fd47ca48228fa43949afaa6c3d991efd90987a1105",
      "rawRecordSha256": "ad356b1f9ca1d217e1215d76d49274ff7bd077af07a99e4629b5fe99928db8a9",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 168474
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 2/2

Original entry ↗
verb

To be part of a clade; to form a clade.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κλάδος (kládos, “shoot, branch”). Coined by British evolutionary biologist, philosopher, author Julian Huxley in 1957 in a paper titled The Three Types of Evolutionary Process in Nature. Doublet of cladus and possibly holt.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*kelh₂-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "lbor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "κλάδος",
        "4": "",
        "5": "shoot, branch"
      },
      "expansion": "Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κλάδος (kládos, “shoot, branch”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "coin",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Q243419",
        "in": "1957"
      },
      "expansion": "Coined by British evolutionary biologist, philosopher, author Julian Huxley in 1957"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cladus"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of cladus"
    },
    {
      "name": "dbt",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "holt",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "holt"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "κλάδος",
      "κλάδος#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "cladus",
      "cladus#English"
    ],
    [
      "holt",
      "holt#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To be part of a clade; to form a clade."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "b633e0c55553e33091cc34198e6cb4b757952612d4ae304b35e9970c28b124b8",
      "rawRecordSha256": "6cf1fdaae5e9d3785fdb7f6bf6c7f27c83246b7775f06aa9cd3145f551953123",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 168475
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for clade →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Y2xhZGU