body plan

English

Noun

body plan (plural body plans)

1. The morphological features common to a group of (typically, related) animals.
   • 1902, Thomas H. Montgomery, Jr., “On Phylogenetic Classification”, in Contributions from the Zoological Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania, page 212:

     In a radiate body plan, as shown by a star-fish, the body is composed on the principle of converging rays, the antimeres; each of the latter is bilaterally symmetrical, with a distinction between dorsal and ventral, and contains a series of "organs"; and each of these organs has its minor parts.

   • 1998, Brian K. Hall, Evolutionary Developmental Biology, page 28:

     Each phylum originated from a single founding species, is characterized by a unique body plan or Bauplan (Chapter 6), and had an independent evolutionary history for over 540 to 560 million years according to most current estimates.

   • 2009, John Reiss, Not by Design: Retiring Darwin’s Watchmaker, page 345:

     If we ascribe all limitation of variation in body plan to the limitations imposed by functional constraints during development and during independent existence, then we have indeed a thoroughgoing "selectionist" or "conditions for existence" account for such stability.

2. (nautical) A model used in the construction of a boat or ship, composed to transverse sections perpendicular to the keel.
   • 1869, Richard W. Meade, A Treatise on Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding, page 201:

     The middle line of the body plan, or fore perpendicular, is drawn square to the base, and the half siding of the stem and stern-post on each side of it.

   • 1872, P. R. Marett, Yachts and yacht building, page 6:

     The sections of the body plan will end at the half siding of the keel, stem or stern-post as to breadth, and at the lower edge of the rabbet of the keel as to depth in each section.

   • 1911, Neil J. McDermaid, Shipyard Practice as Applied to Warship Construction, page 218:

     For this reason the table of offsets is given, as the displacement has been obtained from them and errors would creep in if they were scaled from the body plan.

3. A scheme of diet and exercise designed to maintain a healthy body.
   • 1987, Leslie Kenton, The Ten Day Pure Body Plan, page 14:

     The first day of your pure body plan should be a Friday.

   • 2013, Abigail Bray, ‎Elizabeth Reid Boyd, Body Talk: A power guide for girls:

     It will be a diary, a journal, an adventure, a body plan, a creative space where you can experiment with different ways of being. A place to create some new body rules.

   • 2013, Shirley Mitchell, Sensational After 60: Loving Life All Over Again:

     He continued, "You need to make a body plan to keep everything up and running smoothly until the last years of your life." What will your body plan be?

Translations

the morphological features common to a group of animals

• Finnish: ruumiinkaava
• French: plan d’organisation m
• German: Bauplan (de) m

Further reading

• “body plan”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “body plan”, in Collins English Dictionary.