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skel·e·ton (skĕlĭ-tn)
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n.
1.
a. The internal structure that protects and supports the soft organs, tissues, and other parts of a vertebrate organism, and is composed of bone and cartilage or, in certain animals, cartilage alone.
b. The hard external structure that supports, protects, or contains the body of many invertebrates, such as mollusks, crustaceans, and corals, and certain vertebrates, such as turtles.
2. A supporting structure or framework, as of a building.
3. An outline or sketch.
4. Something reduced to its basic or minimal parts.
5. One that is very thin or emaciated.
6.
a. A sport in which a person glides down an icy track head-first lying on one's stomach on a compact, simple sled that lacks steering or brakes.
b. The sled used in such a sport.
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or resembling a skeleton.
2. Reduced to the basic or minimal parts or members: a skeleton crew.
3. Of or relating to the sport of skeleton.
Idiom:
skeleton in (one's) closet
A source of shame or disgrace, as in a family, that is kept secret.
[Greek skeleton (sōma), dried-up (body), neuter of skeletos, from skellesthai, to dry up.]
(click for a larger image)
skeleton
top: human skeleton
bottom:architectural skeleton
(click for a larger image)
skeleton
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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