somatic

[ soh-mat-ik, suh- ]

/ soʊˈmæt ɪk, sə- /

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adjective

of the body; bodily; physical.

Anatomy, Zoology. pertaining to the body wall of an animal.

Cell Biology. pertaining to or affecting the somatic cells, as distinguished from the germ cells.

OTHER WORDS FOR somatic

1 corporal.

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OPPOSITES FOR somatic

1 psychic.

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Origin of somatic

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

OTHER WORDS FROM somatic

so·mat·i·cal·ly, adjectiveun·so·mat·ic, adjective

Words nearby somatic

Somali Current, Somaliland, soman, so many, somat-, somatic, somatic cell, somatic cell nuclear transfer, somaticize, somatic mutation, somatic nervous system

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use somatic in a sentence

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.
The quest to learn if our brain’s mutations affect mental health|Roxanne Khamsi|August 25, 2021|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.”
The quest to learn if our brain’s mutations affect mental health|Roxanne Khamsi|August 25, 2021|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.
The First Endangered American Animal Has Been Cloned|Vanessa Bates Ramirez|February 19, 2021|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.
How Do You Cure a Compassion Crisis? (Ep. 444)|Stephen J. Dubner|December 17, 2020|Freakonomics

Slicing somatic cells, however, which include all cells aside from sperm and egg cells, would only affect the individual being treated.
Two women just won the Nobel Prize for their work on the gene-editing technique CRISPR|Claire Maldarelli|October 7, 2020|Popular-Science
And 44 years down the line I still get that… I still get that very strange, bodily, somatic thing.
The Writer and the Potter: Edmund De Waal on his New York Debut|Iain Millar|September 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
They have all kinds of somatic pains, body pains that come and go.
America’s Depression Diagnoses Epidemic and How to Fix It|Jesse Singal|March 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Thomas attributed her knowledge of the body to years of dancing and studying somatic experience, or trauma healing.
Hilaria Thomas, Yoga Instructor (and the Next Mrs. Alec Baldwin)|Lizzie Crocker|May 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The outer or somatic wall of the plates retains its previous simple constitution.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1|Francis Maitland Balfour
In the rudimentary outgrowth to form the limbs the mesoblast cells of the somatic layer are crowded in an especially dense manner.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1|Francis Maitland Balfour
It is probable also, though this point is less certain, that the skeleton would be derived from the somatic layer.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1|Francis Maitland Balfour
The diverticula from the alimentary cavity form the water-vascular system and the somatic and splanchnic layers of mesoblast.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1|Francis Maitland Balfour
In the appendage-bearing segments the somatic layer is continued up into the appendages.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1|Francis Maitland Balfour

British Dictionary definitions for somatic

somatic

/ (səʊˈmætɪk) /

adjective

of or relating to the somasomatic cells

of or relating to an animal body or body wall as distinct from the viscera, limbs, and head

of or relating to the human body as distinct from the minda somatic disease

Derived forms of somatic

somatically, adverb

Word Origin for somatic

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for somatic

somatic

[ sō-măt′ĭk ]

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

somatic

OTHER WORDS FOR somatic

OPPOSITES FOR somatic

Origin of somatic

OTHER WORDS FROM somatic

Words nearby somatic

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How to use somatic in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for somatic

Derived forms of somatic

Word Origin for somatic

Scientific definitions for somatic