Manikin vs. Mannequin

Main Difference

The main difference between Manikin and Mannequin is that the Manikin is a life-sized anatomical human model used in education and Mannequin is a doll or statue used to show clothing in a store.

• Manikin

  The Transparent Anatomical Manikin (TAM) is a three-dimensional, transparent model of a human being, created for medical instructional purposes. TAM was created by designer Richard Rush in 1968. It consisted of a see-through reproduction of a female human body, with various organs being wired so specific body systems would light up on command, on cue with a pre-recorded educational presentation.

  Rush eventually produced 42 TAMs, many of which are still displayed in US health education museums. A cheaper model, the Mobile TAM, was created by Rush in the 1980s.

  The Transparent Anatomical Manikin was used as cover art on the 1970 soundtrack album Music from The Body, by Roger Waters and Ron Geesin, and the American alternative rock band Nirvana’s 1993 album In Utero.

• Mannequin

  A mannequin (also called a manikin, dummy, lay figure or dress form) is an often articulated doll used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, windowdressers and others especially to display or fit clothing. The term is also used for life-sized dolls with simulated airways used in the teaching of first aid, CPR, and advanced airway management skills such as tracheal intubation and for human figures used in computer simulation to model the behavior of the human body. During the 1950s, mannequins were used in nuclear tests to help show the effects of nuclear weapons on humans.

  Mannequin comes from the French word mannequin, which had acquired the meaning “an artist’s jointed model”, which in turn came from the Flemish word manneken, meaning “little man, figurine”. In early use in the United Kingdom, it referred to fashion models themselves, the meaning as a dummy dating from the start of World War II.