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