anatomy

noun

anat·o·my | \ ə-ˈna-tə-mē

plural anatomies

Definition of anatomy

1 : a branch of morphology that deals with the structure of organisms

2 : a treatise on anatomical science or art

3 : the art of separating the parts of an organism in order to ascertain their position, relations, structure, and function : dissection

4 obsolete : a body dissected or to be dissected

5 : structural makeup especially of an organism or any of its parts the anatomy of birds human anatomy

6 : a separating or dividing into parts for detailed examination : analysis the anatomy of a marriage

7a(1) : skeleton

(2) : mummy

b : the human body wore an outfit that showed off various parts of her anatomy

Other Words from anatomy Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about anatomy

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Other words from anatomy

anatomical \ˌa-nə-ˈtä-mi-kəl

\ or anatomic \-ˈtä-mik

\ adjective

anatomically \-mi-k(ə-)lē

\ adverb

Examples of anatomy in a Sentence

We had to take a class on anatomy. learning about the anatomies of different types of birds learning about the anatomy of an earthquake

Recent Examples on the Web

The face is composed of scraps, mix-and-match fragments of anatomy, swatches and swipes of color. — Leah Ollman, latimes.com, "Like song sampling as painting: Nathaniel Mary Quinn's puzzle-like portraits of personhood," 6 June 2018 And the anatomy of the conflict, extensively revealed in court records as well as testimony at trial by the main participants, exposes one of the most naked accounts of governance gone awry in corporate history. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, "Paper Jam! How Carl Icahn And a Billionaire Partner Blocked Xerox’s Merger with Fujifilm," 21 May 2018 With others, doctors can create a GPS-like map projected onto a patient’s body to virtually see inside the anatomy before an operation, track their surgical tools and help them operate more precisely. — Laura Landro, WSJ, "The Operating Room of the Future," 28 May 2018 Continuing down the body, CCD can affect virtually bone in the anatomy. — Carolyn L. Todd, SELF, "'Stranger Things' Star Gaten Matarazzo Shares What Life Is Like With His Rare Bone Disorder," 26 Jan. 2018 These are shown frontally, with little or no depth of field, and nerves and organs are exposed, as in an anatomy textbook. — Stephen Metcalf, The Atlantic, "Jean-Michel Basquiat Is Still an Enigma," 24 June 2018 On Thursday, during the first week of the course, students took apart plastic hearts, lungs and other body parts from an anatomy model and studied tissue under microscopes. — Krista Torralva, San Antonio Express-News, "UTSA program paves way for health professionals from medically underserved communities," 15 June 2018 No hospital would hire him as part of their clinical faculty, and he was reduced to working as an anatomy instructor at a local Ayurvedic medical school, just scraping by. — Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, "We Are Scientists," 5 June 2018 To explore this possibility, Hussman and O’Loughlin asked students enrolled in an anatomy class to complete an online learning styles assessment and answer questions about their study strategies. — Cindi May, Scientific American, "The Problem With “Learning Styles”," 29 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'anatomy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.