analysis

Main Entry:: anal·y·sis
Pronunciation:: \ə-ˈna-lə-səs\
Function:: noun
Inflected Form(s):: plural anal·y·ses \-ˌsēz\
Etymology:: New Latin, from Greek, from analyein to break up, from ana- + lyein to loosen — more at lose
Date:: 1581

1: separation of a whole into its component parts2 a: the identification or separation of ingredients of a substance b: a statement of the constituents of a mixture3 a: proof of a mathematical proposition by assuming the result and deducing a valid statement by a series of reversible steps b (1): a branch of mathematics concerned mainly with limits, continuity, and infinite series (2): calculus 1b4 a: an examination of a complex, its elements, and their relations b: a statement of such an analysis5 a: a method in philosophy of resolving complex expressions into simpler or more basic ones b: clarification of an expression by an elucidation of its use in discourse6: the use of function words instead of inflectional forms as a characteristic device of a language7: psychoanalysis

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