Meaning & use
somatic
Last updated
UK/səʊˈmætɪk/
US/soʊˈmætɪk/
Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounmedical
Relating to the body, as opposed to the mind.
Grammar: Before a noun: somatic symptoms.
Patterns
- somatic symptoms
She reported somatic symptoms such as headaches and tiredness.
The therapist focuses on somatic awareness.
adjectivebefore a nounbiology
Describing body cells other than reproductive cells.
Grammar: In biology: somatic cells.
Patterns
- somatic cell
- somatic mutation
Somatic cells divide by mitosis.
Somatic mutations are not passed to children.
Common combinations
- somatic cell
- A somatic cell has two sets of chromosomes.
- somatic symptoms
- Stress can cause somatic symptoms.
- somatic therapy
- She tried somatic therapy.
- somatic mutation
- A somatic mutation caused the tumor.
Synonyms and how they differ
Opposites
psychicgermline
Word family
- soma noun
- the body of an organism
- psychosomatic adjective
- physical symptoms with a mental cause
Commonly confused: somatic or psychosomatic?
somatic vs psychosomatic
Psychosomatic means bodily symptoms caused by the mind.
Practice
Which cells are somatic?
Choose one answer.
Skin cells are ordinary body cells. Egg and sperm cells are reproductive.
Make it your own
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