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anatomy

noun
uh-NA-tuh-mee/əˈnæt.ə.mi/

Pluralanatomies

7 meanings of anatomy

Practice

  1. 1
    sciencenouncountable or uncountable
    The science of how the bodies of living things are built, or how a body is built.

    My sister is studying anatomy because she wants to become a nurse.

    In anatomy class we learned the names of all the bones in the hand.

    Note
  2. 2
    body structurenouncountable or uncountable
    The way the body of a living thing, or one part of it, is built and works.

    The doctor used a plastic model to explain the anatomy of my knee.

    Cats and dogs have a similar anatomy, but their teeth are not the same.

    Similarstructure

    Note
  3. 3
    private parts (polite)nouneuphemisticcountable or uncountable
    A polite word for the body, used mostly when talking about the private parts.

    The puppy bit the mail carrier on a part of his anatomy he would rather not mention.

    The comedian told jokes about certain parts of his anatomy.

    Similarbody

    Note
  4. 4
    person's buildnouncolloquialcountable or uncountable
    The shape of a person's body.

    That swimmer has amazing anatomy from years of training.

    After the holidays, my old jeans no longer fit my anatomy.

    Similarphysique, build, figure, body

  5. 5
    analysisnouncountable or uncountable
    The act of taking something apart, in real life or in your mind, to look closely at each part.

    The report is a step-by-step anatomy of what went wrong at the factory.

    The movie is an anatomy of a family slowly falling apart.

    Similaranalysis

    Note
  6. 6
    booknouncountable
    A book that describes how the body is built.

    She bought a used anatomy full of drawings of bones and muscles.

    My grandfather's old anatomy still has his notes in the margins.

Less common meaning

  1. 7
    skeletonnounarchaiccountable or uncountable
    The bones of a dead body, or a dead body itself.

    The old doctor's study had an anatomy, made of real bones, standing in the corner.

    So did the Ægyptians, who in the middest of their banquetings, and in the full of their greatest cheere, caused the anatomy of a dead man to be brought before them, as a memorandum and warning to their guests.
    Folio Society, 2006Here, anatomy means a skeleton or dead body, shown as a warning.
    Note

Practice

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Origin

From an old Greek word meaning "cutting up", made from "up" + "to cut".