'anthropology' originates from Greek, specifically the words 'ἄνθρωπος' (anthrōpos) and 'λόγος' (logos), where 'ἄνθρωπος' meant 'human' and 'λόγος' meant 'study/speech'.

'anthropology' changed from the Greek compound 'anthropologia' into Late Latin 'anthropologia', passed into scholarly Latin and then into English (first recorded in the 17th century) as 'anthropology'.

Initially, it meant 'the study/talk about humans', and over time it evolved into the modern academic sense of 'the systematic study of human beings, their cultures, societies, and biological aspects'.