dissect
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin dissectus past participle of dissecare (“to cut asunder, cut up”), from dis- (“asunder”) + secare (“to cut”); see section.
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /dɪˈsɛkt/, /daɪˈsɛkt/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /dɪˈsɛkt/, /daɪˈsɛkt/
- Rhymes: -ɛkt
Verb edit
dissect (third-person singular simple present dissects, present participle dissecting, simple past and past participle dissected)
- (transitive) To study an animal's anatomy by cutting it apart; to perform a necropsy or an autopsy.
- 2020, Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half, Dialogue Books, page 130:
- She was the first person in her class to properly dissect the sheep heart.
- (transitive) To study a plant or other organism's anatomy similarly.
- (transitive) To analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts.
- (transitive, anatomy, surgery) To separate muscles, organs, and so on without cutting into them or disrupting their architecture.
- (transitive, pathology) Of an infection or foreign material, following the fascia separating muscles or other organs.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart
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to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts
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to separate muscles, organs, and so on without cutting or disrupting
Further reading edit
- “dissect”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “dissect”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “dissect”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.