Organ (anatomy)

<p>The English word "organ" derives from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin" title="Latin">Latin</a> <i>organum</i>, meaning instrument, itself from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek">Greek</a> word <i>organon</i>, implement, musical instrument, or organ of the body. The Greek word is related to <i>ergon</i>, work.<sup id="cite_ref-Barnhart_2-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_%28anatomy%29#cite_note-Barnhart-2">[3]</a></sup></p>

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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a> used the word frequently in his philosophy, both to describe the organs of plants or animals (e.g. the roots of a tree, the heart or liver of an animal), and to describe more absract "parts" of an interconnected whole (e.g. his philosophical works, taken as a whole, are referred to as the "organon").</p>

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The English word "organism" is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neologism" title="Neologism">neologism</a> coined in the 17th century, probably formed from the verb <i>to organize</i>. At first the word referred to an organization or social system. The meaning of a living animal or plant is first recorded in 1842.<sup id="cite_ref-Barnhart_2-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_%28anatomy%29#cite_note-Barnhart-2">[3]</a></sup></p>