anthropology

Etymology

It is formed from English anthropo- + -logy,^[2][3][4][5] after New Latin anthropologia (“study of humanity”),^[2][6] which Merriam-Webster and Barnhart give as its source.^[7][8] The Latin word is recorded in an Italian source by 1517 and in the title of a work by Otto Casmann on the human body (1596).^[2] The parts are Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “man, human being”)^[8][9] and -λογία (-logía), from -λόγος (-lógos, “one who speaks; one who deals with a topic”).^[5] Aristotle used ἀνθρωπολόγος (anthrōpológos) literally, "speaking of man", that is, fond of personal talk.^[2][6] The OED compares Middle French entropologie (1516), later anthropologie, and Italian antropologia (1533).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The study or description of human beings or human nature in general: 1593, in R. Harvey's Philadelphus.^[2][8][7]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the word first referred especially to the relation between body and mind.^[6] From 1655 it named the scientific study of the human being as a union of body and soul, including anatomy and physiology,^[2] and Johnson (1755) defined it as "the doctrine of anatomy; the doctrine of the form and structure of the body of man".^[9] The OED treats this sense as obsolete after 1834.^[2] The modern sense, the science of the human species, its origins, physical characteristics and cultures, appears in 1832.^[2] From 1694 to 1754 the word was also used, after French anthropologie, for ascribing human features to God, that is, anthropomorphism.^[2] The field was later divided into physical and social or cultural anthropology.^[3][10]

Timeline

• 1517 – Latin anthropologia, study of humanity, in an Italian source.^[2]
• 1593 – the study of human nature in general.^[2][8][7]
• 1655 – the science of the human being as body and soul, including anatomy (obsolete by 1834).^[2]
• 1694 – the ascription of human form to God (obsolete by 1754).^[2]
• 1755 – Johnson defines it as the doctrine of anatomy.^[9]
• 1832 – the scientific study of the human species.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The study of human beings, their origins, physical characteristics, societies, beliefs and culture.^[10][7][3]
2. A particular account or theory of human nature, as held by a thinker or a school.^[2][7]
3. (theology) Religious teaching about the origin, nature and destiny of human beings.^[7]
4. (obsolete, 1655–1834) The study of human anatomy and physiology, or of body and mind together.^[2][9]

Word family

• anthropological
• anthropologically
• anthropologist
• paleoanthropology
• cultural anthropology
• forensic anthropology
• physical anthropology
• structural anthropology

Related words

• anthropomorphism

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c d Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins