anatomy

[ uh-nat-uh-mee ]
See synonyms for anatomy on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural a·nat·o·mies.
  1. the science dealing with the structure of animals and plants.

  2. the structure of an animal or plant, or of any of its parts.

  1. dissection of all or part of an animal or plant in order to study its structure.

  2. a plant or animal that has been or will be dissected, or a model of such a dissected organism.

  3. a skeleton.

  4. Informal. the human body.

  5. an analysis or minute examination.

Origin of anatomy

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin anatomia, from Greek anatom(ḗ) “dissection” (from ana- ana- + tomḗ “a cutting,” noun derivative of témnein “to cut”) + -ia -y3

Words Nearby anatomy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use anatomy in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for anatomy

anatomy

/ (əˈnætəmɪ) /


nounplural -mies
  1. the science concerned with the physical structure of animals and plants

  2. the physical structure of an animal or plant or any of its parts

  1. a book or treatise on this subject

  2. dissection of an animal or plant

  3. any detailed analysis: the anatomy of a crime

  4. informal the human body

Origin of anatomy

1
C14: from Latin anatomia, from Greek anatomē, from anatemnein to cut up, from ana- + temnein to cut

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for anatomy

anatomy

[ ə-nătə-mē ]


  1. The structure of an organism or any of its parts.

  2. The scientific study of the shape and structure of organisms and their parts.

Other words from anatomy

  • anatomical adjective (ăn′ə-tŏmĭ-kəl)

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for anatomy

anatomy

The structure of an animal or plant; also, the study of this structure through techniques such as microscopic observation and dissection. (Compare morphology and physiology.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.