Anatomy is the study of structure, what the body is made of and how its parts are arranged. Physiology is the study of function, how those parts actually work. A simple way to remember it: anatomy asks “what is it,” while physiology asks “what does it do.”
The core difference
Anatomy studies the body's structure; physiology studies how that structure functions.
- anatomy — the study of the structure of living things: Medical students spend a full year studying human anatomy.
- physiology — the study of how living things and their parts function: Her physiology course covers how the heart and lungs work together.
How to tell them apart
Anatomy comes from a Greek word meaning “dissection,” literally “cutting up,” which fits its focus on mapping structure piece by piece. Physiology comes from Greek roots meaning the study of nature, and it focuses on process and function rather than static form.
A handy trick is to picture a diagram versus a video. Anatomy is like a labelled diagram of the heart, showing its chambers and valves. Physiology is like a video of that same heart beating, showing how blood actually moves through it. The two fields overlap constantly in medicine and biology, since knowing the structure helps explain the function, and vice versa.
