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family-tree theory

American  
[fam-uh-lee tree, fam-lee-] / ˈfæm ə li ˈtri, ˈfæm li- /

noun

Historical Linguistics.

  1. a theory that describes language change in terms of genetically related languages developing in successive splits from a common parent language, such as Indo-European, as depicted by a family tree diagram.

Etymology

Origin of family-tree theory

First recorded in 1930–35

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.