body plan

American  

noun

1. Biology. the basic shape of members of an animal phylum; the general structure each individual organism assumes as it develops.

2. Naval Architecture. a diagrammatic elevation of a hull, consisting of an end view of the bow on one side of the center line and an end view of the stern on the other side, marked with water lines, diagonals, bow or buttock lines, stations, and sometimes details of the hull.

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Etymology

Origin of body plan

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

"The new fossil is about 15 inches long with a relatively complex, conical body plan, which challenged many of our expectations for the appearance of early sponges."

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026

Echinoderms like starfish have a five-fold body plan but, mysteriously, still must have evolved from ancestors with two-fold body plans.

From Salon • Nov. 3, 2023

A set of molecular markers on a sea star’s genes determine the animal’s body plan, which includes its radial symmetry and organ structure.

From Scientific American • Nov. 3, 2023

“It seems the whole echinoderm body plan is roughly equivalent to the head in other groups of animals,” study co-author Jeff Thompson of University of Southampton said in a release from that British school.

From Washington Times • Nov. 2, 2023

The heavily illustrated volume, just 165 pages long, presented incontrovertible evidence that humans and chimpanzees were built to the same body plan.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin