anatomia

Forms

anatomia f (genitive anatomiae); first declension^[1] Lewis & Short also give anatomica and anatomicē.^[2] Medieval spellings include anathomia and anothomia.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἀνατομή (anatomḗ, “dissection”) with the Latin suffix -ia,^[1][5] or, as Lewis & Short have it, the late Greek form ⟨anatomia⟩ itself.^[2][6] The Greek noun is from ἀνατέμνω (anatémnō, “to cut up, dissect”), made of ἀνά (aná, “up”) and τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”).^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is the physician Caelius Aurelianus, who speaks of “opening up, which the Greeks call anatomia”.^[7][8][5]

Semantic evolution

Macrobius has the related anatomica, and anatomicus “anatomist” occurs in Macrobius, Ammianus Marcellinus and Augustine.^[2] The word came back into use with the medical schools of the Middle Ages: a treatise by Maurus defines it as the right division of a body, to be made on a pig,^[3] and Albert the Great uses it of the dissection of animals and plants and, more loosely, of the structure of bodies, eggs and bones.^[3] British writers explained it from ⟨ana⟩ “equal” and ⟨thomos⟩ “division”;^[4] Matthew Paris records under 1216 the opening of the king's body after his death, and in 1549 the Oxford statutes required a student of medicine to perform two dissections.^[4] Du Cange also records a late sense, bloodletting.^[9]

English anatomy, from the late 14th century, comes from Old French or directly from Late Latin.^[6]

Timeline

• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of opening a body.^[7][5]
• 1216 – A royal body is opened after death, as Matthew Paris reports.^[4]
• 13th century – Albert the Great uses it of dissecting animals and plants.^[3][5]
• late 14th century – English anatomy is taken from it or from French.^[6]
• 1549 – The Oxford statutes require students of medicine to perform dissections.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) Dissection, the opening of a body; anatomy.^[7][2][4][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) The structure of a body or organ.^[3]
3. (Medieval Latin) Bloodletting.^[9]

Related words

• English anatomy

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre