Definition of: taxonomy

(tak·son′ə·mē) noun
1. The department of knowledge that embodies the laws and principles of classification.
2. Biol. The systematic arrangement of plant and animal organisms according to accepted diagnostic criteria which determine their assignment to each of the following major groups, beginning with the most inclusive: kingdom, phylum or division, class, order, family, genus, and species. [<F taxonomie <Gk. taxis arrangement + nomos law]
—tax·o·nom·ic (tak′sə·nom′ik) or ·i·cal adjective
—tax′o·nom′i·cal·ly adverb