anatomy

American  

[uh-nat-uh-mee] / əˈnæt ə mi /

noun

• anatomies
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• anatomies
  plural

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

Explanation

If you're studying anatomy you're studying animals’ bodies and you're probably dissecting them, too. You might study the anatomy of a pig to see how it relates to human anatomy. You’ll find that only one of them has a snout. Ever heard of Gray's Anatomy — not the TV show, but the 1858 medical textbook by Henry Gray? It’s been revised many times, but it’s still the standard text, with detailed descriptions of the parts of the human body. The word anatomy can apply to anything you're analyzing in detail. If you're writing an anatomy of your piano, you'll describe the parts and how they work. Anatomy goes back to the Greek roots ana, meaning "up," and temnein "to cut."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

anatomy anatomies

Its anatomy shows that it was already highly specialized for swimming.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026

As we looked more closely at the anatomy, we began to identify a combination of features characteristic of Diplodocus species.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

Its anatomy does provide some hints about how it may live and feed.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026

By examining the fossil under ultraviolet light, researchers uncovered new evidence about its skin, sensory structures, respiratory anatomy, and possible color pattern.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

Just as nineteenth-century human anatomy and physiology laid the foundation for twentieth-century medicine, the anatomy and physiology of genes would lay the foundation for a powerful new biological science.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

The data draws from detailed anatomical structures of the heart, to help create accurate digital representations of how medical devices will interact with different patient anatomies.

From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2024

Instead, they suggest the data indicates that extinct giants might have evolved unique muscular anatomies, which warrant more study.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024

Various experiments were conducted on these crabs to learn about their anatomies in a world where the oceans have become more acidic.

From Salon ● May 15, 2023

Women are at highest risk of contracting UTIs because of their anatomies, Price said.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 23, 2023

According to this theory, Sapiens and other humans had different anatomies, and most likely different mating habits and even body odours.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari