analyse

American  

[an-l-ahyz] / ˈæn lˌaɪz /

verb (used with object)

Chiefly British.

analysed, analysing

1. a variant of analyze.

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analyse British  

/ ˈænəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. to examine in detail in order to discover meaning, essential features, etc

2. to break down into components or essential features

   to analyse a financial structure

3. to make a mathematical, chemical, grammatical, etc, analysis of

4. another word for psychoanalyse

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Other Word Forms

• analysable
  adjective
• analysation
  noun
• analyser
  noun

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

Here, BBC correspondents analyse some of the potential new bills Sir Keir's government wants to pass.

From BBC • May 13, 2026

"We will analyse the season - what was right, what was wrong, what we have to improve and then I'm totally convinced from the summer on, we go again," Rohl, 37, explained.

From BBC • May 5, 2026

These interviews can take weeks to conduct and analyse.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 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

Children can feel, but they cannot analyse their feelings; and if the analysis is partially effected in thought, they know not how to express the result of the process in words.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë