late 14c., "study of the structure of living beings;" c.1400, "anatomical structures," from Old French anatomie, from Late Latin anatomia, from Greek anatomia, from anatome "dissection," from ana- "up" (see ana-) + temnein "to cut" (see tome). "Dissection" (1540s), "mummy" (1580s), and "skeleton" (1590s) were primary senses of this word in Shakespeare's day; meaning "the science of the structure of organized bodies" predominated from 17c. Often mistakenly divided as an atomy or a natomy.