somat-

1. variant of somato- before a vowel:

   somatist.

Words That Use somat-

What does somat- mean?

Somat– is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “body.” It is occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in biology.

Somat– ultimately comes from Greek sôma, meaning “body.” The Latin equivalent of sôma was corpus, “body,” which is the source of corps, corpse, corporal, and corporeal. To learn more, check out our entries for all four words.

What are variants of somat-?

Somat– is a variant of somato–, which loses its –o– when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels. The combining forms –some and –soma come from the same Greek root and are used to mean “body,” as in chromosome or Schistosoma. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles for somato-, –some, and –soma.

Examples of somat-

An example of a term that features somat– is somatalgia, “pain in the body due to organic causes.”

Somat– means “body,” while the –algia part of the word means “pain,” from Greek álgos. Somatalgia literally means “body pain.”

What are some words that use the combining form somat-?

• somatagnosia
• somatasthenia
• somatesthesia
• somatic (using the equivalent form of somat– in Greek)
• somatist

What are some other forms that somat– may be commonly confused with?

• atmo-
• osmo-
• somni-

Break it down!

The word esthesia means “capacity for sensation or feeling; sensitivity.” With this in mind, what is somatesthesia?