Agency Dictionary
Somatic
adjectivePronunciation: /səˈmæt.ɪk/
In Portuguese: Somático
Science & Health
Psychology & MindWhat does “Somatic” mean?
Relating to the physical body, especially as distinct from the mind, psyche, or purely intellectual faculties.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek somatikos (of or relating to the body), from soma (body). The word entered scientific English through medicine and philosophy to distinguish bodily processes from mental or spiritual ones.
Usage note
In genetics, somatic cells are all body cells except reproductive cells. In medicine and psychology, somatic symptoms are bodily ones; those with a psychological origin are called psychosomatic.
Synonyms
- bodily
- physical
- corporeal
Word family
- soma
- somatically
- psychosomatic
Rhymes with
- dramatic
- static
- automatic
- systematic
- pragmatic
- dogmatic
Concepts
- Mind-Body ReciprocityMind-body reciprocity is the psychological and physiological principle of continuous, bidirectional causation between subjective mental states and somatic biology. It…
- Somatic ModificationSomatic modification is the biological alteration of bodily tissues, neural pathways, and physical mass in response to subjective experiences, conscious decisions, and…
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.
Words of the same theme
- Equationnoun
- A complex statement or problem involving balancing multiple interdependent factors, variables, or meanings.
- vocationnoun
- A strong innate inclination or sense of purpose toward a particular career, craft, or calling.
- Synchronicitynoun
- The simultaneous occurrence of events that appear meaningfully related yet lack a direct causal connection.
- Astronautnoun
- A person trained and equipped to travel and operate beyond the atmosphere of the Earth. In space exploration, astronauts perform scientific experiments and navigate spacecraft under extreme conditions.
- Decompositionnoun
- The natural biological or chemical process of decay, breakdown, or disintegration into constituent elements.
- eppur si muoveother
- An Italian phrase meaning and yet it moves. It is used to affirm that a fact remains true no matter who denies it.
- Resiliencenoun
- The capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties, tough conditions, or shock.
- Stigmanoun
- A mark of social disgrace, shame, or prejudice associated with a particular circumstance, trait, or behavior.
- clevernessnoun
- The mental quality of being quick-witted, agile, and ingenious in solving specific situational problems.
- Pollinationnoun
- The transfer of pollen grains from the male anther to the female stigma of a flower, enabling fertilization and seed production.
- Regenerativeadjective
- Relating to or capable of renewing, restoring, or reforming biological vitality and structural equilibrium.
- collective consciousnessnoun
- The set of beliefs, ideas and feelings shared by the members of a society, which exists beyond any single person. By extension, what a community knows and repeats in common.
Also from these editions: terms
- Affectnoun
- An expressed or experienced emotion, feeling, or visceral response to a stimulus in psychology and philosophy.
- Biomenoun
- A large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat defined by climate and soil.
- Cognitionnoun
- The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.
- Epistemologicaladjective
- Relating to epistemology, the theory of knowledge, its methods, validity, and scope.
- Inferentialadjective
- Characterized by or derived from deduction, reasoning from premises, or drawing conclusions from evidence.
- Ontologynoun
- The branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being, reality, and what kinds of entities can be said to exist.
- Permeabilitynoun
- The state or quality of being permeable, allowing liquids, gases, or symbolic influences to pass through.
- Phenomenologynoun
- The philosophical approach that concentrates on the study of conscious experience and appearances as experienced from the first-person point of view.
- Reciprocitynoun
- The practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit; mutual dependence or action and reaction between entities.
- Reductionismnoun
- The practice of analyzing and describing a complex phenomenon in terms of its simple or fundamental constituents.
- Venomousadjective
- Capable of injecting venom through a bite or sting; highly toxic or characterized by malice.
Also from these editions: concepts
- Frans HalsFrans Hals was a Dutch painter of the 17th century, a portraitist who worked in Haarlem. Research.1, an edition published only in Portuguese, names him once, in the…
- René DescartesRené Descartes was a French philosopher and mathematician of the 17th century, author of the Discourse on the Method and of the principle "I think, therefore I am"…
- Affective CogitoThe affective cogito is a philosophical reformulation of Descartes' foundational maxim, expressed as I am affected, therefore I exist. It establishes that subjective…
- Affective EpistemologyAffective epistemology is the philosophical perspective asserting that emotional resonance, bodily affection, and visceral feeling precede and enable rational…
- Artificial ConsciousnessArtificial consciousness is the hypothetical state of subjective awareness, qualitative experience, and phenomenal sentience within an engineered computational system. It…
- Behavioral ResponsivenessBehavioral responsiveness is the adaptive capacity of a conscious organism to formulate intentional, self-modifying actions in functional reply to external sensory and…
- Cartesian RationalismCartesian rationalism is the epistemological and metaphysical system founded by René Descartes that establishes the thinking ego as the primary certainty of existence. It…
- Methodological ReductionismMethodological reductionism is a scientific research strategy that investigates complex phenomena by dividing them into their smallest constituent parts and examining…
- Ontological RelationalityOntological relationality is the metaphysical doctrine asserting that entities, organisms, and observers do not exist as isolated, self-contained essences, but are…
- Phenomenological ShockPhenomenological shock is an immediate, pre-reflective sensory and emotional rupture that completely destabilizes an observer's conventional horizon of expectation. It…
- Principle of PermeabilityThe principle of permeability is an ontological and epistemological framework stating that conscious reality begins when an entity possesses the capacity to be affected…