Definition of: Chordata

(kôr·dā′tə) noun plural
A phylum of the animal kingdom which includes the vertebrates and whose members are characterized by an internal skeleton (which in primitive forms is a slender, axial rod, the notochord), a dorsally located central nervous system, and gill slits, present in the embryos of terrestrial forms. [<NL <chorda CHORD²]
—chor·date (kôr′dāt) adjective & noun