Taxonomy has two closely related meanings. First, it is the science of sorting living things into groups — kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species — and giving each one a name. That is the meaning you meet in biology class.

Taxonomy這個字 has有 two closely related meanings兩個很接近的意思。First第一 it是 the science of sorting living things into groups把生物分類成群組的科學——kingdom界、phylum門、class綱、order目、family科、genus屬、species種——and並 giving each one a name給每一個取名字。That這 is就是 you你 in biology class在生物課 meet會遇到的 the meaning意思。

Second, and just as common, a taxonomy is one particular system of groups that someone has built: 'a taxonomy of learning styles', 'the taxonomy used by this online shop'. In that second use it is countable, so you can say 'a taxonomy' and 'three taxonomies'.

Second第二，and也 just as common一樣常見，a taxonomy taxonomy is指 one particular system of groups that someone has built某人建立的一套特定分類系統：'a taxonomy of learning styles'『學習風格的分類』、'the taxonomy used by this online shop'『這家網路商店用的分類』。In that second use在這第二種用法裡 it is countable它是可數的，so所以 you can say你可以說 'a taxonomy'『一個taxonomy』 and和 'three taxonomies'『三個taxonomies』。

Outside biology the word has spread a long way. Teachers talk about Bloom's taxonomy of thinking skills; librarians, website designers, and business people use taxonomy to mean the set of categories and labels that make a big pile of information findable. It sounds formal — you would say it in a report or a meeting, not while chatting with friends.

Outside biology在生物學之外 the word has spread a long way這個字已經傳得很廣。Teachers talk about老師會講到 Bloom's taxonomy of thinking skillsBloom的思考技能分類法；librarians, website designers, and business people圖書館員、網站設計師和商業人士 use taxonomy to mean則用taxonomy指 the set of categories and labels that make a big pile of information findable讓一大堆資料變得好找的那套分類和標籤。It sounds formal這個字聽起來很正式——in a report or a meeting在報告或會議上 you would say it你會這麼說，not而不是 while chatting with friends跟朋友聊天時。

One honest note: a taxonomy is always somebody's decision about where to draw the lines, not a fact sitting in nature waiting to be picked up. Nature is messy, and the groups are our attempt to make sense of it.

One honest note老實說：a taxonomy is always分類永遠是 somebody's decision about where to draw the lines某人決定線要畫在哪裡的結果，not不是 a fact sitting in nature waiting to be picked up大自然裡等著被發現的事實。Nature is messy大自然是雜亂的，and而 the groups這些分類 are our attempt to make sense of it只是我們想理解它的嘗試。