analyze

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæn.ə.laɪz/ (UK); /ˈæn.əˌlaɪz/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It seems to come from analyse, an anglicized form of analysis used in the 17th and 18th centuries,^[2][3] later influenced by French analyser;^[2][4][5] Merriam-Webster takes it as an irregular formation from analysis with -ize.^[6] The French verb is not recorded until the late 17th century, so Weekley thought the English verb was formed directly.^[7] The source is Ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (análusis), from ἀναλύω (analúō, “to unloose, undo”).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of material things, to dissect or take to pieces: 1587 in Merriam-Webster,^[6] about 1600 in Etymonline;^[7] SOED dates the verb to the late 16th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense, to dissect or decompose material things, is obsolete;^[3] the general sense, to find out the elements of something complex, took over,^[3][7] with technical uses in chemistry, grammar and mathematics.^[8] Collins adds the sense to psychoanalyse.^[8] Etymonline dates the critical examination of literature to the 1610s and the chemical sense, to resolve a compound into its elements, to the 1660s.^[7] Johnson spelled it analyze, and Fowler called analyse and analyze "equally indefensible" forms.^[7] In Norfolk and American dialect analyze was used for "idolize".^[9]

Timeline

• 1587 – to take apart.^[6]
• late 16th century – to examine the elements of something.^[3]
• 1610s – to examine a literary work critically.^[7]
• c. 1638 – the noun analyse, analysis (obsolete).^[10][6]
• 1660s – to resolve a compound in chemistry.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To examine something in detail to discover its structure, meaning or causes.
2. To separate a substance or problem into its parts, as in a chemical or grammatical analysis.
3. To psychoanalyze.

Word family

• analyzable
• analyzer
• analyzability
• analyzation
• cryptanalyze
• misanalyze
• overanalyze
• reanalyze

Related words

• analysis
• analyst
• analytic
• lysis

Usage notes

Analyze is the American spelling and analyse the British one.^[6][8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
10. ^ Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press