anthropopathology
|an-thro-po-path-ol-o-gy|
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/ˌænθrəpəˌpæθˈɑlədʒi/
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/ˌænθrəpəˌpæθˈɒlədʒi/
study or attribution of human feelings
Etymology
'anthropopathology' originates from Greek, specifically the elements 'anthropos', 'pathos' and 'logia', where 'anthropos' meant 'human', 'pathos' meant 'suffering' or 'feeling', and 'logia' meant 'study' or 'discourse'.
'anthropopathology' was formed in modern English by combining the prefix 'anthropo-' (from Greek 'anthropos') with 'pathology' (from Greek 'pathos' + '-logia'), appearing in specialized theological and academic writings from the 19th–20th centuries onward.
Initially, the components pointed to 'the study of human suffering or feelings'; over time the compound has been used variously to mean both the study/depiction of human affect and the theological projection of human emotions onto deities, with a rarer medical sense referring to human-specific pathology.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the ascription or projection of human emotions, passions, or feelings onto God or other divine beings (theological usage).
The anthropopathology in the scripture depicts the deity as jealous and wrathful.
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Noun 2
the study or depiction of human emotions, passions, or affective states, especially in literature, art, or philosophy.
Her book offers an anthropopathology of grief, tracing how cultures express mourning.
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Noun 3
a rare, technical usage referring to the study of human disease or human-specific pathological conditions (near synonym of human pathology).
In older medical texts, anthropopathology was sometimes used to mean the pathology of human diseases.
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Last updated: 2025/10/12 17:58