anatomism

A1N1A1T1O1M3I1S1M3

noun

The application of the principles of anatomy, as in art.

OriginEnglish anatomy ← Middle English anatomie ← Old French anatomie →
Scrabble 13
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

anatomism1

nounanatomism (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe application of the principles of anatomy, as in art.

    The stretched and vivid anatomism of their great figure painters.

    1878 May 7 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “TUESDAY, April 27, 1878”, in The Spectator, number (please specify the issue number); republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume (please either specify the issue number or |volume=I to VI), New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC
  2. uncountableThe doctrine that the anatomical structure explains all the phenomena of the organism or of animal life.

anatomism2

nounanatomism (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe quality of not being atomic, but rather, being composed ofmultiple separable parts.

    Weak anatomism, however, seems to Fodor and Lepore to be a position they need not bother with.

    2003, Jane Heal, Mind, Reason and Imagination, page 119
    2 more examples

    In terms of the distinction I drew earlier between the possession of generic semantic propertis and the possession of specific semantic properties, I want to say that weak anatomism involves the possession of generic semantic properties; strong anatomism involves the possession of specific semantic properties.

    1997, Pierre Jacob, What Minds Can Do, page 199

    In the country of its origin (Germany) and in the country of its adoption (America), Gestalt psychology was a reaction against two "-isms": atomism and anatomism.

    2018, Michael T. Turvey, Lectures on Perception: An Ecological Perspective, page 192

Origin

anatomism · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂en-
  2. Proto-Hellenic*aná
  3. Ancient Greekᾰ̓νᾰ́ (ănắ)
  4. Ancient Greekἀνα- (ana-)
  5. Proto-Indo-European*temh₁-
  6. Ancient Greekτέμνω (témnō)
  7. Ancient Greekἀνατέμνω (anatémnō)
  8. Ancient Greekἀνατομή (anatomḗ)
  9. Latinanatomia
  10. Old Frenchanatomie
  11. Middle Englishanatomie
  12. Englishanatomy
  13. Englishanatomism

From anatomy + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →

anatomism · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*ə-
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓- (ă-)
  5. Ancient Greekἀν- (an-)
  6. Englishan-
  7. Ancient Greekἀ- (a-)
  8. Proto-Indo-European*temh₁-
  9. Ancient Greekτέμνω (témnō)
  10. Ancient Greek*τομός (*tomós)
  11. Ancient Greekἄτομος (átomos)
  12. Latinatomu
  13. Middle Frenchathome
  14. Middle Englishattome
  15. Englishatom
  16. Englishanatomism

From an- + atom + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Portuguese anatomismo
  • anatomismodoctrine that the anatomical structure explains all the phenomena of life
Cite this entry
APA

anatomism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anatomism

MLA

“anatomism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anatomism. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anatomism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anatomism.

Source: anatomism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.