anatomy definition - Dictionary

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anatomy

a·nat·o·my [ ə náttəmee ] (plural a·nat·o·mies)

noun

Definition:

1. study of structure of body: the branch of science that studies the physical structure of animals, plants, and other organisms

2. physical structure of organism: the physical structure, especially the internal structure, of an animal, plant, or other organism, or of any of its parts

3. book about anatomy: a book or other written work about the physical structure of animals, plants, or other organisms

4. body: the human body ( informal )

5. analysis: a detailed analysis of something

[14th century. Via French anatomie and late Latin anatomia< Greek anatomē "cutting up" < temnein "to cut"]

a·nat·o·mist noun

Word History


	From the 16th century to the early 19th century anatomy was used to mean "skeleton," and in this sense it was often misinterpreted as an atomy, as if the initial an- were the indefinite article: "My bones...will be taken up smooth, and white, and bare as an atomy," Tobias Smollett (1755).