Why Does Somatic Mean?

Somatic is a fancy word that just means dealing with the body. You may be tired of hearing your great-grandfather's somatic complaints, but give him a break - his body has been working for 80 years! Soma means body in Latin, so somatic means of the body and is most often used in connection with one's health.

What does word somatic mean?

1a : of, relating to, or affecting the body especially as distinguished from the germplasm : physical. b : of, relating to, supplying, or involving skeletal muscles the somatic nervous system a somatic reflex. 2 : of or relating to the wall of the body as distinguished from the viscera : parietal.

Why is it called somatic?

The term somatic - etymologically from the French word "somatique", from Ancient Greek "σωματικός" (sōmatikós, “bodily”), from σῶμα (sôma, “body”) - is often used in biology to refer to the cells of the body in contrast to the reproductive (germline) cells, which usually give rise to the egg or sperm (or other gametes ...