dissect

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dissectus past participle of dissecare (“to cut asunder, cut up”), from dis- (“asunder”) + secare (“to cut”); see section.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈsɛkt/, /daɪˈsɛkt/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
(US) IPA^(key): /dɪˈsɛkt/, /daɪˈsɛkt/
Rhymes: -ɛkt

Verb

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's 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, etc. without cutting into them or disrupting their architecture.
Now dissect the triceps away from its attachment on the humerus.
(transitive, pathology) Of an infection or foreign material, following the fascia separating muscles or other organs.

Derived terms

Related terms

dissection

Translations

to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart

Armenian: հերձել (hy) (herjel)
Bulgarian: правя дисекция (pravja disekcija)
Catalan: dissecar (ca), disseccionar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 解剖 (zh) (jiěpōu)
Czech: pitvat (cs)
Danish: dissekere
Dutch: ontleden (nl)
Finnish: leikellä (fi)
French: disséquer (fr)
German: sezieren (de)
Greek: ανατέμνω (el) (anatémno)
Hungarian: boncol (hu)
Icelandic: kryfja (is)
Ido: dissekar (io)
Italian: dissecare
Latin: dissecō
Persian: تشریح کردن (tašrih kardan)
Polish: przeprowadzić sekcję
Portuguese: dissecar (pt)
Romanian: diseca (ro)
Russian: анатомировать (ru) (anatomirovatʹ), вскрыва́ть (ru) (vskryvátʹ), препарировать (ru) (preparirovatʹ)
Spanish: disecar (es), diseccionar (es)
Swedish: dissekera (sv)

to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts

Catalan: dissecar (ca), disseccionar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 剖视 (zh) (pōushì)
Dutch: ontleden (nl)
Finnish: eritellä (fi)
French: disséquer (fr)
German: zerlegen (de), analysieren (de)
Greek: ανατέμνω (el) (anatémno)
Ido: dissekar (io)
Persian: تشریح کردن (tašrih kardan)
Portuguese: dissecar (pt)
Romanian: diseca (ro)
Russian: анализи́ровать (ru) (analizírovatʹ), проводи́ть ана́лиз (provodítʹ análiz), разбира́ть критически (razbirátʹ kritičeski)
Spanish: diseccionar (es)
Swedish: dissekera (sv)

to separate muscles, organs, and so on without cutting or disrupting

Finnish: irrottaa (fi)
Ido: dissekar (io)
Spanish: disecar (es)

Anagrams

cestids