analysis
Abbr. anal.
1.
2.
3. Mathematics. a. A branch of mathematics principally involving differential and integral calculus, sequences, and series and concerned with limits and convergence. b. The method of proof in which a known truth is sought as a consequence of a series of deductions from that which is the thing to be proved.
4. Linguistics. The use of function words such as prepositions, pronouns, or auxiliary verbs instead of inflectional endings to express a grammatical relationship; for example, the cover of the dictionary instead of the dictionary's cover.
5. Psychoanalysis.
6. Systems analysis.
[Medieval Latin, from Greek analusis, a dissolving, from analuein, to undo : ana-, throughout. See