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anthropologist

/ˌænθrəˈpɑːlədʒɪst/

A scholar who studies humans and their societies

From Greek anthropo- (human).

noun
anthropo-
Ancient Greek
AI-inferred
ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos)
human, mankind
New Latin
AI-inferred
anthropo-
combining form meaning human or man
-logy
Ancient Greek
AI-inferred
-λογία (-logía)
study, account, or discourse
New Latin
AI-inferred
-logia
abstract noun-forming element meaning study of
-ist
Ancient Greek
AI-inferred
-ιστής (-istḗs)
agent-noun suffix, one who does or practices something
Latin
AI-inferred
-ista
agent or adherent suffix
Old French
AI-inferred
-iste
person associated with an activity, doctrine, or profession
English
AI-inferred
-ist
one who practices or specializes in something
Combined
anthropology + -ist → anthropologist
Anthropo- and -logy first combine in Modern Latin anthropologia or independently in English; English then adds -ist to name a practitioner or specialist.
English
AI-inferred
anthropology
1590s: the study of humans, originally especially human physiology and psychology
English
AI-inferred
anthropologist
1798: a student or expert in anthropology; attested in German from 1783
Modern English
anthropologist
“

Picture a scholar trying to take in the entire human animal—bones, beliefs, languages, marriage rules, and lunch habits—and you have an anthropologist. The first half comes from Greek ἄνθρωπος, “human,” while -logy means a study or account; together they produced anthropology, recorded in English in the 1590s. Then English attached -ist, a suffix that traveled from Greek -ιστής through Latin -ista and Old French -iste, essentially meaning “the person who does this.” By 1798, anthropologist was established in English, although German had used the form as early as 1783. The word is therefore a miniature career description: “the person devoted to the study of humans”—a human being professionally investigating humanity, including the strange creature in the mirror.

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