autopsy

[aw-top-see, aw-tuh p-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR autopsy ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural au·top·sies.

inspection and dissection of a body after death, as for determination of the cause of death; postmortem examination.

an analysis of something after it has been done or made.

verb (used with object), au·top·sied, au·top·sy·ing.

to perform an autopsy on.

Origin of autopsy

1645–55; (< Middle French autopsie) < Greek autopsía a seeing with one's own eyes, equivalent to aut- aut- + óps(is) -opsis + -ia -y³

Related formsau·top·sist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for autopsy

postmortem, dissection, necropsy

Examples from the Web for autopsy

Contemporary Examples of autopsy

They had hoped the autopsy would show Brinsley had eaten something that would point them in the right direction.
Exclusive: Inside a Cop-Killer’s Final Hours
Michael Daly
December 31, 2014
As an autopsy has yet to be completed, the official cause of death remains unknown.
Palestinian Cabinet Member Dies in Confrontation with Israeli Soldier
Creede Newton
December 10, 2014
An autopsy found highly toxic cyanide levels in the blood of the not-so-dearly departed.
Beware of Japan’s “Black Widows”
Jake Adelstein
November 20, 2014
The autopsy report is expected to be completed in the next 24 hours.
The Shocking Death of Miss Honduras
Romina Ruiz-Goiriena
November 19, 2014
The lawyer asserted that an autopsy of Sarbandi showed how the pen knife wound was itself not fatal.
The Real Reason Iran Killed This Woman for Defending Herself
Eli Lake
October 29, 2014

Historical Examples of autopsy

When the last case died, a free case again, I performed my own autopsy.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
The lion has to assist at his autopsy,—rather hard, is n't it?
Sir Brook Fossbrooke, Volume I.
Charles James Lever
There was nothing discovered at the autopsy to account for the death.
A Master of Mysteries
L. T. Meade
Who is the physician that is going to undertake the autopsy?
The Son of Monte-Cristo, Volume II (of 2)
Alexandre Dumas pre
There are different ways of beginning an autopsy such as this.
The Son of Monte-Cristo, Volume II (of 2)
Alexandre Dumas pre

British Dictionary definitions for autopsy

autopsy

noun plural -sies

Also called: necropsy, postmortem examination dissection and examination of a dead body to determine the cause of death

an eyewitness observation

any critical analysis

Word Origin for autopsy

C17: from New Latin autopsia, from Greek: seeing with one's own eyes, from auto- + opsis sight

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for autopsy

1650s, "an eye-witnessing," from Modern Latin autopsia, from Greek autopsia "a seeing with one's own eyes," from autos- "self" (see auto-) + opsis "a sight" (see eye (n.)). Sense of "dissection of a body to determine cause of death" is first recorded 1670s, probably from the same sense in French autopsie (1570s).

autopsy in Medicine