anthropologist

Etymology

It is formed from English anthropology + -ist.^[2][3][4] The OED notes that the word is recorded slightly before anthropology in the sense of a scientific discipline, and compares New Latin anthropologus, recorded in 1635 for a person who studies human rather than divine matters, in contrast to theologus.^[2] Anthropology (1593) is from anthropo- and -logy,^[2][5] perhaps through New Latin anthropologia;^[5][3][6] the first element is from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “man, human being”), of unknown origin.^[2][5] Etymonline notes that the German word is recorded from 1783.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An expert in or student of human nature in its physical and philosophical aspects: 1650, in Walter Charleton's translation of van Helmont.^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date the word only to 1798,^[3][6] and Dictionary.com to 1790–1800.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word followed the history of anthropology.^[2] In the 17th century the study of man was largely the relation of body and soul, anatomy and physiology,^[2][3] and Johnson (1755) still defined anthropology as the doctrine of the structure of the human body.^[7] Only from the 1830s did anthropology name the scientific study of the human species, and the anthropologist became a specialist in the physical, social and cultural study of human beings and their societies.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1650 – an expert in the physiology and philosophy of human nature.^[2]
• 1798 – a student or expert in anthropology.^[3][6]
• 1832 – anthropology as the science of the human species, the field of the later anthropologist.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A specialist in anthropology, the study of human beings, their origins, physical characteristics, societies and cultures: The anthropologist spent two years living in the village.^[6][2][8]

Related words

• anthropology
• anthropoid
• misanthrope
• philanthropy
• anthropomorphism

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins