anthropology
UK /ˌænθɹəˈpɒləd͡ʒi/ · US /ˌænθɹəˈpɑləd͡ʒi/ noun
Forms anthropologies
- noun The scientific study of humans, systematically describing the ethnographic, linguistic, archaeological, and evolutionary dimensions of humanity using a holistic methodological framework. “According to anthropology, there are six basic patterns of kinship terminology or kin naming systems.”
- noun (theology) The study of humanity in its relation to the divine, as in Christian anthropology.
Etymology
From New Latin anthropologia, from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “human, mankind”) + -λογία (-logía). By surface analysis, anthropo- + -logy.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The science of the structure and functions of the human body.
- noun The science of man; --sometimes used in a limited sense to mean the study of man as an object of natural history, or as an animal.
Etymology [Gr. -logy.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “anthropology”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details