phyle means A local division of the people; a clan or tribe. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
phyle is pronounced /ˈfaɪli/.
Why “phyle” is a great word
PHYLE — [Noun] A local tribe or clan constituting a political division of the people in ancient Greece, or a subdivision of the priestly caste in ancient Egypt. From New Latin phȳlē, from Ancient Greek φῡλή (phūlḗ, “a tribe, clan, or race of people”). First known use in English circa 1851. Unlike “phylon” (a broader biological or taxonomic term for a race) or “deme” (a smaller village or administrative unit within it), “phyle” denotes the fundamental civic body—the ancient pulse of belonging. It is the ten tribes of Cleisthenes casting their votes in the Athenian agora, the hereditary priests of Thebes performing their solar rites, and the shared hearth-fire around which identity coalesced—a manufactured kinship of blood, cult, and duty that long preceded the abstraction of the state.
Etymology
From New Latin phȳlē, from Ancient Greek φῡλή (phūlḗ, “a union of individuals into a community”).
noun
- A local division of the people; a clan or tribe.
- A subdivision of the priestly caste in ancient Egypt, headed by a phylarch.