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the science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, biological characteristics, and social customs and beliefs of humankind.
the study of human beings’ similarity to and divergence from other animals.
the science of humans and their works.
Also called philosophical anthropology. the study of the nature and essence of humankind.
Contemporary Examples

One titled, “The anthropology of Us and Them,” is particularly insightful.
Send in the Marines—and the Anthropologists too? John Kael Weston August 22, 2013

Beyond Baghdad the line drawn between Syria, now the property of France, and Iraq was more cartography than anthropology.
Gertrude of Arabia, the Woman Who Invented Iraq Clive Irving June 16, 2014

Hobbes lacked the data of archaeology and anthropology to inform his theories about the dangerous nature of pre-state existence.
War! What Is It Good For? A Lot Nick Romeo August 12, 2014

Richard Kurin was a 19-year-old anthropology student in India when he experienced his material culture epiphany.
We All Have a Rosebud in Our Pasts Sam Roberts October 14, 2014

I put the matter to my friend Lionel Tiger, the Charles Darwin professor of anthropology at Rutgers.
The Great New York City Bicycle Wars Tunku Varadarajan December 13, 2009

Historical Examples

They also opened new horizons for hypotheses in astronomy, genetics, anthropology.
The Civilization of Illiteracy Mihai Nadin

Much might have been done if they had understood and been admonished by anthropology.
Buchanan’s Journal of Man, August 1887 Various

Both Schiller and Goethe had a thorough knowledge of anthropology and psychology.
The Wonders of Life Ernst Haeckel

I’m an exobiologist, with a supplementary degree in anthropology.
Planet of the Damned Harry Harrison

anthropology is still, as it has been for centuries, taken in many different senses.
The Wonders of Life Ernst Haeckel

noun
the study of humans, their origins, physical characteristics, institutions, religious beliefs, social relationships, etc See also cultural anthropology, ethnology, physical anthropology, social anthropology
n.

“science of the natural history of man,” 1590s, originally especially of the relation between physiology and psychology, from Modern Latin anthropologia or coined independently in English from anthropo- + -logy. In Aristotle, anthropologos is used literally, as “speaking of man.”

anthropology an·thro·pol·o·gy (ān’thrə-pŏl’ə-jē)
n.
The scientific study of the origin, the behavior, and the physical, social, and cultural development of humans.
an’thro·pol’o·gist n.
anthropology
(ān’thrə-pŏl’ə-jē)
The scientific study of humans, especially of their origin, their behavior, and their physical, social, and cultural development.

The scientific study of the origin, development, and varieties of human beings and their societies, particularly so-called primitive societies.