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

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

She has appeared on popular TV series "Grey's Anatomy," "How to Get Away with Murder" and "Frasier."

From Barron's • Mar. 15, 2026

Thus began one of the strangest incidents in American history, which Andy McPhee documents in “The Doctors’ Riot of 1788: Body Snatching, Bloodletting, and Anatomy in America.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 5, 2026

"It's the first time we've had a complete, fleshed-out view of a large dinosaur that we can really feel confident about," said senior author Paul Sereno, PhD, Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at UChicago.

From Science Daily • Nov. 30, 2025

The dictionary is Garner’s magnum opus, as essential to attorneys as Gray’s Anatomy is to physicians.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2025

At the bottom were Gray’s Anatomy and a collected Shakespeare, and above them, on slenderer spines, names in faded silver and gold—she saw Housman and Crabbe.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan