It’s called a skeleton because the word comes from an ancient Greek term meaning “dried‑up body.”

Name origin

The English word “skeleton” ultimately comes from the Greek phrase skeletón sôma , which literally means “dried‑up body” or “mummy.” Over time, this shifted to mean the dried bones or bony framework left after the soft tissues are gone.

Because of that history, “skeleton” became the standard word for the rigid internal framework of bones that supports and protects the body in humans and other vertebrates. Dictionaries still echo that origin by defining a skeleton as the bony framework supporting soft tissues and organs.

How the meaning expanded

From the literal sense, the word grew several figurative uses: people talk about the “skeleton” of a plan or book to mean its basic outline, the bare structure without details. There’s also the phrase “skeleton in the closet,” meaning a shameful or secret fact hidden away.

In science and medicine, “skeleton” still mainly refers to the biological framework of bones and cartilage that supports the body, protects organs, and helps with movement. The same idea of a supporting framework is why programmers talk about “skeleton code” and chemists say “carbon skeleton” for the main chain of atoms in a molecule.

Fun modern twist: the sport

There’s even a winter sport called “skeleton,” where athletes ride a small sled head‑first down an icy track. The name likely stuck because the sled is minimal and bare, like just the “skeleton” of a vehicle.

In short, it’s called “skeleton” because the original Greek root meant “dried‑up body,” and that ancient image of bare bones turned into our modern word for the body’s bony framework and anything that’s just a basic structure.

TL;DR: It’s called skeleton because it comes from Greek for “dried‑up body,” which first meant a body’s dry bones and then broadened to mean any bare framework or basic structure.

Are you more curious about the biology side of skeletons or the word’s language/etymology story?