anthropometry

American  

[an-thruh-pom-i-tree] / ˌæn θrəˈpɒm ɪ tri /

noun

1. the measurement of the size and proportions of the human body.

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anthropometry British  

/ ˌænθrəˈpɒmɪtrɪ /

noun

1. the comparative study of sizes and proportions of the human body

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anthropometry Scientific  

/ ăn′thrə-pŏm′ĭ-trē /

1. The study of human body measurement for use in anthropological classification and comparison. The use of such data as skull dimensions and body proportions in the attempt to classify human beings into racial, ethnic, and national groups has been largely discredited, but anthropometric techniques are still used in physical anthropology and paleoanthropology, especially to study evolutionary change in fossil hominid remains.

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Other Word Forms

• anthropometrist
  noun
• anthropometric
  adjective
• anthropometrical
  adjective
• anthropometrically
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of anthropometry

First recorded in 1830–40; anthropo- + -metry

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

anthropometry

British police devised the first criminal identification record of distinctive marks, and, in France, Alphonse Bertillon developed a system of anthropometry, or measuring and cataloging physical characteristics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

At the time, there was interest in the study of craniometry, the measurement of the cranium, and anthropometry, the scientific measurement of individuals.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2023

It involved measuring the human body’s proportions against its surroundings, a science known as anthropometry, which would be a defining characteristic of Evans’s career.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 1, 2016

Sometimes the contribution made by anthropometry is quite modest.

From Time Magazine Archive

The differences in the bodily qualities that are the usual subjects of anthropometry are easily dealt with, and are becoming widely registered in many countries.

From Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development by Sir Francis Galton

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