analyse
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to examine in detail in order to discover meaning, essential features, etc
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to break down into components or essential features
to analyse a financial structure
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to make a mathematical, chemical, grammatical, etc, analysis of
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another word for psychoanalyse
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of analyse
C17: back formation from analysis
Explanation
To analyse (analyze is U.S. English) something is to consider it in detail so you can figure out its workings or meaning. Analyse comes from Greek roots meaning "loosen." If you analyse something, it's as if you're untying it and letting the different parts separate so that you can study them. If you've got some mystery substance, you can analyse it by performing chemical reactions to break it into its parts. If you analyse a poem, you look at it word-by-word and even sound-by-sound. But remember that analyse is a British spelling, with analyze as the American version.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then it will "review and analyse" whether to introduce it across the board.
From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026
Following the chatbots' advice, he paid $3,000 to have Rosie's genome sequenced, and used the same online tools to analyse her DNA data.
From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026
The data also suggests that the majority of golfers visit simulators to analyse their swings, have golf lessons, or play certain trophy holes in a social environment rather than to play a full round.
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026
F1's bosses initially agreed to take stock of the rules after the first three races and analyse whether changes could be made.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026
Mr Graham would always take the view that this 'dignity' was something like a woman's beauty and it was thus pointless to attempt to analyse it.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
