Linnaean

Linnaean is an adjective used to describe things related to Carl Linnaeus or his system of biological classification. Carl von Linnaeus, Swedish naturalist (1707–1778), laid the foundations of modern taxonomy and is best known for establishing binomial nomenclature and a hierarchical framework for organizing living organisms.

His system proposed that each species receive a two-part Latin name consisting of the genus and the species, for example Homo sapiens. The classification scheme also employed a series of ranks—kingdom, class, order, family, genus, species—though Linnaeus's early work predates many later refinements.

Linnaean taxonomy emphasized standardized description and naming, enabling scientists to communicate about species unambiguously across languages and regions. While later advances in evolutionary theory and phylogenetics broadened the methods of classification, the Linnaean approach remains the core of scientific naming in biology and botany.

Institutions bearing the name include the Linnean Society of London, founded in 1788, a learned society dedicated to natural history and taxonomy, which continues to publish research and host meetings. The term Linnaean is also used to describe classification methods and terminology that rely on binomial nomenclature and rank-based taxonomy.