Definition

A person who categorizes living things based on their evolutionary relationships and shared characteristics.

Example

The cladist presented a new classification system for the species at the conference.

Conversation

Have you ever met a cladist?

No, I haven't! What do they do?

They classify organisms based on evolutionary relationships.

That sounds interesting! I’d love to learn more about how they work.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Cladist → It is formed from "cladus" (from Greek "klados", meaning branch) and the suffix "-ist" (meaning one who practices or is concerned with). A cladist is someone who studies or practices cladistics, which is a method of classifying organisms based on common ancestry and branching evolutionary relationships.

Memory Tip

Think of a 'branch' ('cladus') of a tree representing different species, and remember that a 'cladist' is someone who studies these branches of life.

Visually Confused Words