Meaning & use
anthropic
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Having to do with human beings or with human existence.
Grammar: Used before nouns such as principle or perspective, mostly in science and philosophy.
Patterns
- anthropic principle
- anthropic reasoning
- anthropic view
The anthropic principle says the universe must allow observers like us to exist.
Anthropic reasoning is common in discussions of why the universe seems finely tuned.
He criticized the anthropic view of nature as too centered on people.
adjectivebefore a nounrare
Caused or influenced by human activity, especially on nature or the climate.
Grammar: Often replaced by the more common word anthropogenic in climate writing.
Patterns
- anthropic factors
- anthropic impact
Scientists measured the anthropic impact on the river system.
Some anthropic factors, such as farming, changed the soil.
The report separates natural change from anthropic change.
Common combinations
- anthropic principle
- The anthropic principle is a famous idea in cosmology.
- anthropic reasoning
- Anthropic reasoning starts from the fact that we exist.
- anthropic bias
- The study may suffer from anthropic bias.
- anthropic factors
- Anthropic factors have changed the local climate.
- anthropic fine-tuning
- Some writers argue the anthropic fine-tuning is a coincidence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- anthropogenic
- Anthropogenic is the usual science word for effects caused by humans, and is much more common than anthropic in that sense.
- human
- Human is the plain everyday word and works in most contexts where anthropic would sound unusually technical.
- anthropocentric
- Anthropocentric means treating humans as the most important thing, which is an attitude, not just a connection to humans.
Opposites
Word family
- anthropology noun
- the study of human societies and cultures
- anthropoid adjective
- resembling a human, especially of apes
- anthropomorphic adjective
- given human form or qualities
- philanthropy noun
- giving money or help to improve people's lives
Commonly confused: anthropic or anthropogenic? anthropic or entropic?
anthropic vs anthropogenic
Anthropogenic means produced by humans, such as pollution, while anthropic more broadly means related to humans.
anthropic vs entropic
Entropic relates to entropy, the measure of disorder in physics, and has no link to humans.
Practice
Which phrase is a well-known term in cosmology?
Choose one answer.
The anthropic principle links the universe's features to our existence as observers. The other principles belong to physics, hydrostatics and economics.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “anthropic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.