Dictionary

dissect en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /dɪˈsɛkt/ (US)
• /daɪˈsɛkt/ (UK)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /dɪˈsɛkt/ (UK)
• /daɪˈsɛkt/ (US)

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. (qualifier:literal, transitive) To study an animal's anatomy by cutting it apart; to perform a necropsy or an autopsy.
   • She was the first person in her class to properly dissect the sheep heart. 2020, Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half, Dialogue Books, page 130:
2. (qualifier:literal, transitive) To study a plant's or other organism's anatomy similarly.
3. (figuratively, transitive) To analyze an idea in detail by delineating between its parts.
4. (derogatory, figuratively, transitive) To decontextualize an idea, especially through overanalysis by delineating between its parts too strongly based on style, usually involving pedantry, at the expense of substance.
   • Academics tend to take Indigenous oral histories out of their contexts and dissect them according to Western disciplinary objectives and foci (see figure 1). 2000, Winona Lu-Ann Stevenson, Decolonizing Tribal Histories, University of California, Berkeley:
   • There should be a more holistic approach both to behavior and to inner experience. Köhler (1929), in the first edition of his Gestalt psychology book, made a similar parallel. Both classical psychology and behaviorism decontextualize, and in this way, both have an unnatural tendency to dissect human mental life into meaningless atoms. 2023, Csaba Pléh, Laying the Foundations of Independent Psychology: The Formation of Modern Psychology, Taylor & Francis, page 369:
   • By focusing excessively on dissecting the text into 'forms' and exploring their supposed evolution, form criticism overlooks the larger literary and historical context within which these forms exist. 2023 July 16, Edward D. Andrews, BIBLICAL EXEGESIS: Biblical Criticism on Trial, Amazon Digital Services LLC - Kdp, page 242:
5. (qualifier:literal, transitive) To separate muscles, organs, etc. without cutting into them or disrupting their architecture.
   • Now dissect the triceps away from its attachment on the humerus.
6. (qualifier:literal, transitive) Of an infection or foreign material, following the fascia separating muscles or other organs.

Forms

Deriveds

redissect · macrodissected · dissectability · microdissected · immunodissect · subdissect · dissector · dissecter · equidissectable · stereodissecting · dissective · nondissected · dissectable · undissected · predissected · dissecting microscope · hydrodissect · cryodissect · microdissect

Relateds

dissection

Synonyms

contextomize

Translations (50)

fi leikellä (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · ro diseca (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · cmn 剖视 (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · ru анализи́ровать (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · hy հերձել (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · es diseccionar (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · nl ontleden (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · fr disséquer (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · ru проводи́ть ана́лиз (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · is kryfja (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · fi irrottaa (5. to separate muscles, organs, and so on without cutting or disrupting) · ca dissecar (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · io dissekar (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · fa تشریح کردن (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · fa تشریح کردن (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · es disecar (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · da dissekere (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · fr disséquer (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · ru разбира́ть критически (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · sv dissekera (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · ca disseccionar (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · fi eritellä (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · ca dissecar (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · io dissekar (5. to separate muscles, organs, and so on without cutting or disrupting) · ca disseccionar (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · el ανατέμνω (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · it dissecare (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · hu boncol (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · io dissekar (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · cmn 解剖 (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · nl ontleden (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · ru препарировать (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · la dissecō (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · pl przeprowadzić sekcję (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · es diseccionar (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · bg правя дисекция (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · ru вскрыва́ть (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · az yarmaq (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · cs pitvat (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · pt dissecar (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · ru анатомировать (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · de zerlegen (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · ro diseca (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · pt dissecar (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · es disecar (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · el ανατέμνω (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · de sezieren (1. to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart) · es disecar (5. to separate muscles, organs, and so on without cutting or disrupting) · sv dissekera (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts) · de analysieren (3. to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts)