Webster's English Dictionary

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analysis

anal.y.sis \*-'nal-*-s*s\ \-'nal-*-.se-z\ n or anal.y.ses [NL, fr. Gk, fr. 
   analyein to break up, fr. ana- + lyein to lo] pl osen - more at LOSE 1: 
   separation of a whole into its component parts  2a: an examination of a 
   complex, its elements, and their relations  2b: a statement of such an 
   analysis  3: the use of function words instead of inflectional forms as a 
   characteris tic device of a language 4a: the identification or separation 
   of ingredients of a substance  4b: a statement of the constituents of a 
   mixture  5a: proof of a mathematical proposition by assuming the result and 
   deducing a valid statement by a series of reversible steps 5b1: a branch 
   of mathematics concerned mainly with functions and limits  5b2: CALCULUS b  
   6a: a method in philosophy of resolving complex expressions into simpler or 
   more basic ones 6b: clarification of an expression by an elucidation of 
   its use in discourse 7: PSYCHOANALYSIS