Dictionary

anatomy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• ənăt'-ə-m ē
• /əˈnætəmi/ (Australia, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /əˈnɛtəmi/ (New-Zealand)
• (US) audio
• /əˈnatəmɪj/ (British, Southern, Standard)
• /-mɪ/ (Scotland)
• /əˈnatəme/ (Scotland)
• /-mi/ (Scotland)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- Proto-Hellenic *aná Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰ́ (ănắ) Ancient Greek ἀνα- (ana-) Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Ancient Greek τέμνω (témnō) Ancient Greek ἀνατέμνω (anatémnō) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-ā́ Ancient Greek -ᾱ (-ā) Ancient Greek -η (-ē) Ancient Greek ἀνατομή (anatomḗ) Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin anatomiader. Old French anatomiebor. Middle English anatomie English anatomy From Middle English anatomie, from Old French anatomie, from Latin anatomia, from Ancient Greek ἀνατομή (anatomḗ, “dissection”, literally “cutting up”), from ἀνα- (ana-, “up”) + τέμνω (témnō, “to cut, incise”). By surface analysis, ana- + -tomy. Doublet of ottomy.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The science that deals with the form and structure of organic bodies; anatomical structure or organization.
   • Animal anatomy is also called zootomy; vegetable anatomy, phytotomy; and human anatomy, anthropotomy.
   • Let the muscles be well inserted and bound together, according to the knowledge of them which is given us by anatomy. 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC:
2. (countable, uncountable) The study of the parts of any organized body, to discover their situation, structure, and economy.
3. (countable, uncountable) The physical or functional organization of an organism, or part of it.
   • I went to the Venice beach body-building competition and noticed the competitor from Athens, and let me tell you, that's what I call classic Greek anatomy.
   • The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure. 2013 August 3, “The machine of a new soul”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
4. (countable) A treatise or book on anatomy.
5. (colloquial, countable, uncountable) The form of an individual.
6. (countable, euphemistic, uncountable) The human body, especially in reference to the genitals.
   • On the debate stage days later, Trump wanted all of America to know there was "no problem" with the size of his hands — or any other part of his anatomy. 2016 December 28, Jessica Taylor, “11 Times Donald Trump Looked Like He Was Done For”, in NPR:
   • His extraordinary suggestion is that the future PM inserted a private part of his anatomy into the animal's mouth. 2015 September 20, Michael Ashcroft, Isabel Oakeshott, “Drugs, debauchery and the making of an extraordinary Prime Minister: For years rumours have dogged him. Now, the truth about the shockingly decadent Oxford days of the gifted Bullingdon boy”, in Daily Mail:
7. (archaic, countable) A skeleton or other dead body.
   • So did the Ægyptians, who in the middest of their banquetings, and in the full of their greatest cheere, caused the anatomy of a dead man to be brought before them, as a memorandum and warning to their guests. , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1 p.68
8. (broadly, countable, uncountable) The act of dividing anything, corporeal or intellectual, for the purpose of examining its parts.
   • the anatomy of love
   • Burton's famous treatise, "The Anatomy of Melancholy"
   • the anatomy of a discourse

Forms

Deriveds

histoanatomy · anatomise · anatomical · neuroanatomy · eigenanatomy · anatomize · pathoanatomy · anatomically correct · xenonatomy · anatomiless · anatomism · myoanatomy · sonoanatomy · anatomist · anatomic · morphoanatomy

Hyponyms

angioanatomy · macroanatomy · microanatomy · comparative anatomy · gross anatomy · anatomy of function

Relateds

phytotomy · zootomy

Synonyms

analysis

Translations (68)

uk анато́мія (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ms anatomi (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · hu anatómia (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ka ანატომია (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · de Anatomie (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · sh anatòmija (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · fo kropsbygnaður (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · sw anatomia (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · fa آناتومی (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · el ανατομία (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · la anatomia (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ru анатомирова́ние (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · mi mātai tinana (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · fa کالبدشناسی (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · nl anatomie (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · pt anatomia (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · gu શરીરરચનાશાસ્ત્ર (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · hi शारीरिकी (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ar تَشْرِيح (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · nn anatomi (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · sgs anatuomėjė (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · vi giải phẫu học (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ckb توێکاری (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ko 해부학 (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ja 解剖 (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ms kaji bina tubuh (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · af anatomie (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ug ئاناتومىيە (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · hu bonctan (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · sv anatomi (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · da anatomi (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · tl anatomiya (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · it anatomia (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · hy կազմախոսություն (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · fo kropsbygnaðarfrøði (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · tr anatomi (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · cmn 解剖 (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · nb anatomi (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · eu anatomia (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · is líffærafræði (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · sk anatómia (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · he אנטומיה (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · lt anatomija (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ta உடற்கூற்றியல் (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · fi anatomia (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ro anatomie (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · pl anatomia (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · th กายวิภาคศาสตร์ (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · eo anatomio (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · km កាយវិភាគសាស្ត្រ (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · lv anatomija (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · vo naatom (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ca anatomia (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · fr anatomie (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ko 해부 (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · cs anatomie (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · tr yapıbilim (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ru анато́мия (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · es anatomía (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · az anatomiya (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · sh анато̀мија (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ja 解剖学 (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · et anatoomia (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · cmn 解剖學 /解剖学 (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · ga anatamaíocht (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · my ခန္ဓာဗေဒ (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · hy անատոմիա (art of studying the different parts of any organized body) · id anatomi (art of studying the different parts of any organized body)