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n. pl. a·nal·y·ses (-sēz′) 1. a. The separation of an intellectual or material whole into its constituent parts for individual study. b. The study of such constituent parts and their interrelationships in making up a whole. c. A spoken or written presentation of such study: published an analysis of poetic meter. 2. Chemistry a. The separation of a substance into its constituent elements to determine either their nature (qualitative analysis) or their proportions (quantitative analysis). b. The stated findings of such a separation or determination. 3. Mathematics a. A branch of mathematics principally involving differential and integral calculus, sequences, and series and concerned with limits and convergence. b. The method of proof in which a known truth is sought as a consequence of a series of deductions from that which is the thing to be proved. 4. Linguistics The use of function words such as prepositions, pronouns, or auxiliary verbs instead of inflectional endings to express a grammatical relationship; for example, the cover of the dictionary instead of the dictionary's cover. 5. Psychoanalysis. 6. Systems analysis. [Medieval Latin, from Greek analusis, a dissolving, from analūein, to undo : ana-, throughout; see ANA- + lūein, to loosen; see leu- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
