anthropology

IPA/ˌænθrəˈpɒlədʒi/
KK[ˌænθrəpˈɑlədʒi]IPA/ˌænθrəˈpɑːlədʒi/

anthropology — noun

1. an academic subject that looks at how humans live, how their bodies have changed

1.nounC1
Definition

an academic subject that looks at how humans live, how their bodies have changed over time, and how their cultures, languages, and beliefs differ around the world.

Example

In her anthropology class, Yara learned how Inuit families pass down hunting skills to children.

anthropology + content focus on cultural practices

Professor Rohan teaches anthropology and has worked with farmers in rural Peru.

teach anthropology + fieldwork context

Common collocations
  • cultural anthropology
  • social anthropology
  • physical anthropology
  • study anthropology
  • department of anthropology
Synonyms
  • ethnology

    narrower; focuses on comparing different cultures rather than humans as a whole

  • human science

    broader umbrella term that includes psychology and sociology too

Grammar Patterns

uncountable noun

Usage Note

Uncountable: do not say 'an anthropology' or 'anthropologies'. Often paired with a modifier that names a subfield, e.g. cultural anthropology, social anthropology, physical anthropology, medical anthropology.

Common Mistakes

She is an anthropology.
She is studying anthropology.
anthropology names a subject, not a person; the person is an anthropologist.
He has many anthropologies in his shelf.
He has many anthropology books on his shelf.
anthropology is uncountable; use 'books on anthropology' for the physical objects.

Word family

  • anthropologist
    nounC1
  • anthropological
    adjectiveC1
  • anthropologically
    adverbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These four subjects all study people, but each takes a different angle. Anthropology is the broadest: it looks at humans across time and across cultures, including their bodies, languages, and ways of life. Sociology focuses on modern societies and how groups, institutions, and rules shape behaviour — usually within one country or city. Ethnology is a branch of anthropology that compares specific cultures side by side, often through long fieldwork in a community. Archaeology studies humans through the physical things they leave behind, such as tools, bones, and ruined buildings. So a researcher in Mexico City studying internet use among teenagers is doing sociology; one living in a Maasai village to record marriage customs is doing ethnology; one digging up Mayan pottery is doing archaeology; all three count as anthropology in the widest sense.

anthropology ↗sociology ↗ethnology ↗archaeology ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • anthropology department
  • anthropology professor
  • anthropology student
  • anthropology course
  • anthropology textbook

Phrases

  • a degree in anthropology
  • the field of anthropology
  • a branch of anthropology

Prepositions

  • anthropology of
  • in anthropology
  • to anthropology

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Built from two Greek roots: 'anthropos' meaning 'human being' and '-logia' meaning 'study of' or 'speech about'. The word entered English in the late 1500s, originally referring to writing about human nature in a general, almost philosophical way. Its modern sense — a structured science of humans, their bodies, and their cultures — only settled in during the 1800s, as European universities began to organise the subject and send researchers to study communities far from home.