anthropometry

[ an-thruh-pom-i-tree ]

noun

1. the measurement of the size and proportions of the human body.

anthropometry

/ ˌænθrəpəˈmɛtrɪk; ˌænθrəˈpɒmɪtrɪ /

noun

1. the comparative study of sizes and proportions of the human body

anthropometry

/ ăn′thrə-pŏm′ĭ-trē /

1. The study of human body measurement for use in anthropological classification and comparison. The use of such data as skull dimensions and body proportions in the attempt to classify human beings into racial, ethnic, and national groups has been largely discredited, but anthropometric techniques are still used in physical anthropology and paleoanthropology, especially to study evolutionary change in fossil hominid remains.

Derived Forms

• ˌanthroˈpometrist, noun
• ˌanthropoˈmetrically, adverb
• anthropometric, adjective

Other Words From

• an·thro·po·met·ric [an-thr, uh, -p, uh, -, me, -trik, -poh-], an·thro·po·met·ri·cal adjective
• an·thro·pom·e·trist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of anthropometry¹

First recorded in 1830–40; anthropo- + -metry

Example Sentences

Bertillon was inspired by the tools of anthropometry—the study of the measurements of the human body.

From Literature

At the time, there was interest in the study of craniometry, the measurement of the cranium, and anthropometry, the scientific measurement of individuals.

From BBC

It involved measuring the human body’s proportions against its surroundings, a science known as anthropometry, which would be a defining characteristic of Evans’s career.

From Washington Post

On the rather slim hope that anthropometry might shed a little light on this questionable phase of Fijian history, this area, along with the first three, has received separate treatment.

From Project Gutenberg

These full and clear remarks seem even more applicable to the method of finger prints than to that of anthropometry.

From Project Gutenberg