somatic

[ soh-mat-ik, suh- ]

adjective

1. of the body; bodily; physical.

   Synonyms: corporal

   Antonyms: psychic

2. Anatomy, Zoology. pertaining to the body wall of an animal.
3. Cell Biology. pertaining to or affecting the somatic cells, as distinguished from the germ cells.

somatic

/ səʊˈmætɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the soma

   somatic cells

2. of or relating to an animal body or body wall as distinct from the viscera, limbs, and head
3. of or relating to the human body as distinct from the mind

   a somatic disease

somatic

/ sō-măt′ĭk /

1. Relating to the body.
2. ◆ The cells of the body with the exception of the reproductive cells (gametes) are known as somatic cells.
3. See Note at mitosis

Derived Forms

• soˈmatically, adverb

Other Words From

• so·mati·cal·ly adjective
• unso·matic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of somatic¹

1765–75; < Greek sōmatikós of, pertaining to the body, equivalent to sōmat- somat- + -ikos -ic

Word History and Origins

Origin of somatic¹

C18: from Greek sōmatikos concerning the body, from sōma the body

Example Sentences

For example, a pivotal 2012 study by Harvard geneticist Christopher Walsh and his colleagues uncovered evidence that somatic mutations were the root cause of some forms of epilepsy.

From MIT Technology Review

They concluded that the somatic changes in DNA that create a mosaic accumulate “slowly but inexorably with age in the normal human brain.”

From MIT Technology Review

This process is known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, and it’s how Kurt the horse was born, as well as Dolly the sheep.

From Singularity Hub 

So, compassion for patients can reduce symptoms of depression, reduce symptoms of anxiety, reduce emotional distress associated with somatic illnesses like having cancer.

From Freakonomics

Slicing somatic cells, however, which include all cells aside from sperm and egg cells, would only affect the individual being treated.

From Popular-Science

And 44 years down the line I still get that… I still get that very strange, bodily, somatic thing.

From The Daily Beast

They have all kinds of somatic pains, body pains that come and go.

From The Daily Beast

Thomas attributed her knowledge of the body to years of dancing and studying somatic experience, or trauma healing.

From The Daily Beast

The outer or somatic wall of the plates retains its previous simple constitution.

From Project Gutenberg

In the rudimentary outgrowth to form the limbs the mesoblast cells of the somatic layer are crowded in an especially dense manner.

From Project Gutenberg

It is probable also, though this point is less certain, that the skeleton would be derived from the somatic layer.

From Project Gutenberg

The diverticula from the alimentary cavity form the water-vascular system and the somatic and splanchnic layers of mesoblast.

From Project Gutenberg

In the appendage-bearing segments the somatic layer is continued up into the appendages.

From Project Gutenberg