English
microanatomy
Microanatomy comes from Middle English anatomie ‘anatomy’, from Ancient Greek ἀνατομή ‘a cutting up, especially of an animal or…’, and ultimately from ἀνατέμνω ‘to cut open’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνατέμνω1anatémnō‘to cut open’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνατομή1anatomḗ‘a cutting up, especially of an animal or person, mutilation, dissection’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanatomia1‘anatomy’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400anatomie1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500anatomie1‘anatomy’
- English1500–presentanatomy1
- Englishtodaymicroanatomy1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English microanatomy
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνατέμνωWiktionary, English microanatomyanatémnō‘to cut open’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνατομήWiktionary, English microanatomyanatomḗ‘a cutting up, especially of an animal or person, mutilation, dissection’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanatomiaWiktionary, English microanatomy‘anatomy’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400anatomieWiktionary, English microanatomy
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500anatomieWiktionary, English microanatomy‘anatomy’
- English1500–presentanatomyWiktionary, English microanatomy
- EnglishtodaymicroanatomyWiktionary, English microanatomy
A compound of ᾰ̓νᾰ́ ‘[with genitive] (rare) on board’ + ἀνα- + τέμνω ‘to cut’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- ‘on, onto’
Proto-Hellenic *aná ‘up, upon’
Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰ́ ‘[with genitive] (rare) on board’
Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ‘to cut’
Proto-Indo-European *tm̥-né-h₁-ti
Ancient Greek τέμνω ‘to cut’
Linked words
through English anatomy
Today it means
noun Microscopic anatomy: the anatomy of minuscule structures, at microscopic scale.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “microanatomy”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἀνατέμνω / microanatomy