Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Analysis
Detailed examination by breaking something into parts.
The Greek roots
ἀνά
aná
up, throughout
λύσις
lýsis
a loosening
Literally: “a loosening apart”
The story of the word
To analyse is to 'loosen up' — to undo something into its components. Its opposite, synthesis, puts them back together.
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
In a sentence
Her analysis revealed a flaw no one else had noticed.