ἀνατομικός

Forms

ἀνατομικός (anatomikós), feminine ἀνατομική, neuter ἀνατομικόν; adverb ἀνατομικῶς.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀνατομή (anatomḗ, “dissection”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Galen (2nd century AD), in the title of his work On Anatomical Procedures and of persons skilled in dissection.^[1][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word is almost confined to Galen and the medical writers who followed him: the corpus has hundreds of its occurrences, nearly all in Galen.^[4] He used it of writings on dissection and, as a noun, of anatomists.^[1][3] Modern Greek ανατομικός (anatomikós) is a learned revival meaning “anatomical”; one sense is a semantic loan from English anatomical, as in the anatomical position.^[5]

Timeline

• 2nd century AD – Galen uses it of anatomical procedures and writings, and of men skilled in dissection.^[1][2]
• Modern Greek – The learned ανατομικός (anatomikós) means anatomical.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to dissection or anatomy.^[2][1]
2. Of persons, skilled in dissection; as a noun, an anatomist.^[1][3][6]

Related words

• ἀνατομή (anatomḗ)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
2. ^ a b c d Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
6. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli