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superfamily. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
superfamily, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Etymology
From super- + family.
Pronunciation
Noun
superfamily (plural superfamilies)
- (taxonomy) A taxonomic category above family and below order (and its subdivisions).
1967, Zoologische Verhandelingen, page 32:There is no reason to deny a natural sequence or to split off genera only to have to attempt later to re-insert them into the whole by means of subordos and superfamilies.
1978, Philip D. Gingerich, New Condylarthra (Mammalia) from the Paleocene and Early Eocene of North America, page 289:The genus Saipanetta has been suggested to be a surviving relict of the metacopidan superfamily Healdiacea because of its muscle scar pattern and narrow duplicature; nevertheless, it differs from the Metacopida in its more complex hingement, lack of a distinct contact groove, exaggerated domiciliar asymmetry, and lack of posterior ridges or angulations.
- (molecular biology) A large group of related proteins or other molecules.
Translations