anthropology

noun an·thro·pol·o·gy \ ˌan(t)-thrə-ˈpä-lə-jē \

|Updated on: 12 Jul 2018

Editor's Note: The Origin of anthropology

Definition of anthropology

1 : the science of human beings; especially : the study of human beings and their ancestors through time and space and in relation to physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture

2 : theology dealing with the origin, nature, and destiny of human beings

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anthropological

play \-pə-ˈlä-ji-kəl\ adjective

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anthropologically

play \-ji-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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anthropologist

play \ˌan(t)-thrə-ˈpä-lə-jist\ noun

See anthropology defined for English-language learners

See anthropology defined for kids

Recent Examples of anthropology from the Web

The action also challenges the CIA’s denial of records relating to UCLA anthropology professor Philippe Bourgois, who survived a massacre allegedly led by Ochoa Pérez in 1981 in Santa Cruz, El Salvador.

— mike carter, The Seattle Times, "UW settles suit against CIA over data on Salvadoran Army officer," 30 May 2018
The lecture mixed neurological theory and armchair anthropology, and ranged over subjects including premonitions, telepathy, hypnotism, hallucinations, and epileptic and migrainous aura.

— katherine foxhall, Smithsonian, "No, Getting a Hole Drilled in Your Head Was Never a Migraine Cure," 6 Mar. 2018
The ship would have been around 100 feet long on the deck, according to John Bratten, the chair of the anthropology department at the university.

— sydney pereira, Newsweek, "Sunken Slave Ship Discovered Off Alabama Coast Was Likely Last to Bring Africans to U.S. Against Their Will," 24 Jan. 2018
The bride’s father is a lecturer in anthropology at Miami University, specializing in the study and research of the Lucayans, the original inhabitants of the Bahamas and the first inhabitants of the Americas encountered by Christopher Columbus.

— New York Times, "Alana Berman-Gnivecki, Martin Solomon," 17 June 2018
The couple’s new neighbors are a younger, less conservative married pair: Pablo del Valle (Eddie Martinez), an up-and-coming lawyer of Chilean heritage; and his Mexican-American wife, Tania (Kimberli Flores), a doctoral student in anthropology.

— james hebert, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Old Globe's 'Native Gardens' puts a comic twist on a fight over fences," 24 May 2018
Báez, born in the Dominican Republic in 1981, is known for large-scale, intricate work that explores her interest in anthropology, diasporic identity, and how women of color navigate selfhood.

— morgan sykes, The Cut, "The Artist Creating Visual Roadmaps of Black Womanhood," 13 May 2018
That might be, at least in part, because many Native American artists have struggled to break through in a mainstream culture that has often treated their creations as something more at home in museums of anthropology than galleries of modern art.

— brittany martin, Los Angeles Magazine, "Native American Artist Rick Bartow Took the Trauma of War and Turned It into Art," 10 May 2018
Childs is known for meshing anthropology and exploration in books like The Secret Knowledge of Water.

— heather hansman, Outside Online, "Craig Childs' New Book Explores the Ancient World," 8 May 2018

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

The Origin of anthropology

The word anthropology dates back to the late 16th century, but it was not until the 19th century that it was applied to the academic discipline that now bears its name. In the United States, this field of study is typically divided into four distinct branches: physical (or biological) anthropology, archaeology, cultural (or social) anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.

Anthropology is from the New Latin word anthropologia (“the study of humanity”) and shares its ultimate root in Greek, anthrōpos (“human being”), with a number of other words in English, such as anthropomorphize, philanthropy, and misanthrope.

Origin and Etymology of anthropology

New Latin anthropologia, from anthrop- + -logia -logy

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1593

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Anthropology Terms

ectomorph, ethnography, prehistory, yurt

ANTHROPOLOGY Defined for English Language Learners

anthropology

noun

Definition of anthropology for English Language Learners

: the study of human races, origins, societies, and cultures

ANTHROPOLOGY Defined for Kids

anthropology

noun an·thro·pol·o·gy \ ˌan-thrə-ˈpä-lə-jē \

Definition of anthropology for Students

: a science that studies people and especially their history, development, distribution and culture

Medical Dictionary

anthropology

noun an·thro·pol·o·gy \ ˌan(t)-thrə-ˈpäl-ə-jē \

medical Definition of anthropology

plural anthropologies

: the science of humans; especially : the study of humans in relation to distribution, origin, classification, and relationship of races, physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture

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