Etymologically
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anatomical

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 03:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /æ.nəˈtɒ.mɪ.kəl/[1]
  • US: /æ.nəˈtɑ.mɪ.kəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English anatomy + -ical,[2][3] on the model of Late Latin anatomicus, the source of anatomic.[4][2] The Oxford Dictionary of English derives it from the Late Latin adjective with -al,[5] Merriam-Webster from Middle French anatomique with -al,[6] and Dictionary.com from anatomicus with -al.[7] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek ἀνατομικός (anatomikós, “skilled in anatomy”),[4][6] from ἀνατομή (anatomḗ, “dissection”),[4][6] literally a cutting up, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tem- (“to cut”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Belonging to or connected with the study or practice of anatomy or dissection: 1586 in the 1989 edition of the OED and in Merriam-Webster,[8][6] while the current OED's first quotation is from T. Bowes's translation of P. de la Primaudaye's French Academie (1594).[4] Etymonline dates the word to the 1580s,[2] and Dictionary.com to 1580–90.[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century anatomy meant dissection above all, and anatomical at first described that practice and its study.[2][4] From 1627 it was also used of the bodily structure itself, in the sense "structural",[4] which the Shorter Oxford dates to the early 18th century.[3] Johnson (1755) gave three senses: relating to anatomy, proceeding on its principles, and "anatomized; dissected; separated", with a quotation on "the minute anatomical parts of matter".[9] The shorter anatomic followed in 1712, and Etymonline notes that anatomical is the older form.[2] In medicine anatomic or anatomical contrasts with functional.[6]

Timeline

  • 1586 – relating to anatomy or dissection.[8][6] The current OED's first quotation is from 1594.[4]
  • 1627 – of the anatomy, structural; also in transferred use.[4]
  • 1712 – the shorter form anatomic.[2]
  • 1755 – Johnson defines it, among other senses, as "anatomized; dissected".[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to anatomy, the study of the structure of living things, or to dissection: an anatomical drawing of the hand.[10][6][4]
  2. Relating to the bodily structure of an organism; structural, as opposed to functional: an anatomical defect of the heart.[6][4][3]

Word family

  • anatomically
  • nonanatomical
  • pseudoanatomical
  • semianatomical

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins