noun, plural a·nat·o·mies.
- the science dealing with the structure of animals and plants.
- the structure of an animal or plant, or of any of its parts.
- dissection of all or part of an animal or plant in order to study its structure.
- a plant or animal that has been or will be dissected, or a model of such a dissected organism.
- a skeleton.
- Informal. the human body.
- an analysis or minute examination.
noun plural -mies
- the science concerned with the physical structure of animals and plants
- the physical structure of an animal or plant or any of its parts
- a book or treatise on this subject
- dissection of an animal or plant
- any detailed analysisthe anatomy of a crime
- informal the human body
late 14c., “study of the structure of living beings;” c.1400, “anatomical structures,” from Old French anatomie, from Late Latin anatomia, from Greek anatomia, from anatome “dissection,” from ana- “up” (see ana-) + temnein “to cut” (see tome). “Dissection” (1540s), “mummy” (1580s), and “skeleton” (1590s) were primary senses of this word in Shakespeare’s day; meaning “the science of the structure of organized bodies” predominated from 17c. Often mistakenly divided as an atomy or a natomy.
The scyence of the Nathomy is nedefull and necessarye to the Cyrurgyen [1541]
n.
- The morphological structure of a plant or an animal or of any of its parts.
- The science of the shape and structure of organisms and their parts.
- Dissection of an animal to study the structure, position, and interrelation of its various parts.
- A skeleton.
- The human body.
- The structure of an organism or any of its parts.
- The scientific study of the shape and structure of organisms and their parts.
The structure of an animal or plant; also, the study of this structure through techniques such as microscopic observation and dissection. (Compare morphology and physiology.)