Skeleton
/ˈskɛl.ɪ.tən/noun
The bony framework of a vertebrate body; something reduced to its basic structure.
Did you know?The word ultimately comes from Greek terms tied to drying and desiccation, not to spooky death imagery, which is why its earliest sense was closer to a mummified or dried body than a bare bone frame.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
σκελετός (skeletós)
“dried-up, dried out body”
Late Latin
Latin
sceleton / sceleton
“a dried body or mummy”
Old French
Old French
esquellette / squelett
“a skeleton; a dried body”
16th Century
English
skeleton
“a dried body or corpse; later, the bony framework of a body”
Modern English
English
skeleton
“the bony framework of a vertebrate body; an underlying structure”