anthropology
noun
Simple meaning
The scientific study of humans, systematically describing the ethnographic, linguistic, archaeological….
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
anthruhpahluhjeeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ænθɹəˈpɑlədʒi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The scientific study of humans, systematically describing the ethnographic, linguistic, archaeological, and evolutionary dimensions of humanity using a holistic methodological framework.
theology
The study of humanity in its relation to the divine, as in Christian anthropology.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: The scientific study of humans, systematically describing the ethnographic, linguistic, archaeological, and evolutionary dimensions of humanity using a holistic methodological framework.
Used this way, anthropology is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a grammar or language-study use: it describes how language works, so it appears in teaching and reference writing.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Academic writing
- Education/classroom
- Technical/specialist writing
- Science
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use anthropology
- “She is studying anthropology to learn about human societies.”
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.