anatomy

American  

[uh-nat-uh-mee] / əˈnæt ə mi /

noun

plural

anatomies

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.

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

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

5. a skeleton.

6. Informal. the human body.

7. an analysis or minute examination.

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anatomy British  

/ əˈnætəmɪ /

noun

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

3. a book or treatise on this subject

4. dissection of an animal or plant

5. any detailed analysis

   the anatomy of a crime

6. informal the human body

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anatomy Scientific  

/ ə-năt′ə-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.

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anatomy Cultural  

1. 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.)

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Etymology

Origin of anatomy

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 -y ³

Example Sentences

The drawings inject suspense even into Melville’s encyclopedic chapters on cetacean anatomy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Spanning fascinating subjects from bees to human anatomy, Ward’s insightful list reminds us that books remain a timeless vessel for truth and knowledge.

From Los Angeles Times

He later called this “a singular act of presumption,” writing, “I knew almost nothing about the anatomy of disaster, the ways of Appalachia, or anything else that could qualify me as an expert.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Bird brains also contain structures that support conscious processing, even though their anatomy differs from that of mammals.

From Science Daily

Dr. Morris serves as the first Dinosaur Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, focusing on how developmental processes shape evolutionary changes and how skull anatomy shifts over time in the fossil record.

From Science Daily