anthrop-, anthropo-, -anthrope, -anthropic, -anthropical, -anthropically, -anthropism, -anthropist, -anthropoid, -anthropus, -anthropy

(Greek: man, mankind; human beings; including, males (man, men; boy, boys) and females (woman, women; girl, girls); all members of the human race; people, humanity)

anthropologic (adjective), more anthropologic, most anthropologic
A reference to the scientific study of the human species.
anthropological (adjective), more anthropological, most anthropological
1. Relating to the nature or the study of mankind and their cultures.
2. A reference to the natural history of human beings.

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.

—Woody Allen (A.K.A. Allen Konigsberg)
anthropological linguistics (s) (noun) (a plural form used as a singular)
A major branch of mankind in which language is studied in a sociocultural context with an emphasis on how language reflects the thought processes of particular cultures.
anthropologically (adverb), more anthropologically, most anthropologically
Referring to the natural history of human beings.
anthropologist (s) (noun), anthropologists (pl)
1. Someone who pursues the science of mankind: Efforts to establish the geographic origins of the different peoples have been supported with methods developed by biological scientists, particularly those concerned with the study of human heredity.
2. Anyone who is professionally involved in, or versed in, the study of the human species and their ancestors: Anthropologists have made considerable use of information provided by archaeologists in their attempt to understand the origins of modern customs, art, and social and political life.

Anthropologists seek to study and to interpret the special characteristics of any particular population or activity in terms of its time and place in the total history of mankind.

anthropologize (verb), anthropologizes; anthropologized; anthropologizing
To explain, treat, or study the variability and development of human traits and ways of life in different populations and environments: In her studies at college, Sarah anthropoligized the behaviors, lifestyles, and rituals of people from around the world by reading textbooks and going to lectures.
anthropology (s) (noun), anthropologies (pl)
1. The science that deals with the study of human culture and evolution, consisting of such sub disciplines as:
  • Physical anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Anthropological linguistics
  • Cultural anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Anthropological linguistics
  • Cultural anthropology
  • Social anthropology
2. The study of the interrelations of biological, cultural, geographical, and historical aspects of humankind: Anthropology is the study of the social and biological aspects of humankind, both past and present because humans are intrigued by who they are, where they came from and why they behave the way they do.
3. The branch of the science that investigates the position of man zoologically, his evolution, and history as a race of animated beings.

The objective study of anthropology has led to the idea of cultural relativity, meaning that all societies must be evaluated within their own cultural frameworks.

Specialists in anthropology attempt to understand human nature and mankind's' place in nature; therefore, as a highly diverse discipline, anthropology is concerned with the sociocultural as well as the biological side of humanness.

The three main events in a human's life are being born, married, and buried; in other words, hatched, matched, and dispatched.

—Anonymous
anthropomancy (s) (noun), anthropomancies (pl)
Divination or fortune telling by examining the entrails of a person during a sacrifice or slaughter, usually those of virgins or young children: With anthropomancy, the viscera (organs of the digestive, respiratory, urogenital, as well as the spleen, the heart, and great vessels) were used to read symbols of the future.

This form of anthropomancy was practiced in ancient Egypt. The Roman Emperor Heliogabalus is said to have done this, too.

Herodotus said that Menelaus, who was detained in Egypt by contrary winds, used anthropomancy by sacrificing two children of the country, and sought to discover his destiny by this method.

It is reported that in his magical operations of anthropomancy, Julian the Apostate, caused a large number of children to be killed so that he might consult their entrails and a woman was found in the Temple of the Moon at Carra, in Mesopotamia, hanging by her hair with her liver torn out.

This type of anthropomancy divination continued through the period of the Roman Empire and it was believed to have been revived by notorious practitioners of the black arts during the Middle Ages.

—Partly compiled from The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination & Prophecy
by Walter B. Gibson and Litzka R. Gibson;
Souvenir Press Ltd.; London; 1973; page 312.
anthropomantic (adjective), more anthropomantic, most anthropomantic
A reference to divination by interpreting human sacrificial entrails.
anthropomantist (s) (noun), anthropomantists (pl)
Someone who foretells the future by examining the entrails of a person during a sacrifice or a slaughter.
anthropometer (s) (noun), anthropometers (pl)
A complex measuring stick used to calculate the dimensions of the human body.
anthropometric (adjective), more anthropometric, most anthropometric
Descriptive of belonging to, skilled in, or given to the measurement of the human body.
anthropometrical (s) (adjective), more anthropometrical, most anthropometrical
A reference to the study of a person's body measurement for use in classifications and comparisons.
anthropometrically (adverb), more anthropometrically, most anthropometrically
Characterized by the study of the measurements of the human body for purposes of analyzing people's classifications and comparisons: Some doctors still anthropometrically utilize such techniques in order to study evolutionary changes in fossil hominid remains.
anthropometrist (s) (noun), anthropometrists (pl)
Someone who measures the human body, or its parts, to determine height, limb lengths, skin fold thickness, etc.

Links to other units that include the topic of "man", "mankind":
andro-; homo-; vir-.

Related "people, human" word units: demo-; ethno-; ochlo-; popu-; publi-.