dissection

/daɪˈsɛkʃɪn/

/daɪˈsɛkʃən/

Other forms: dissections

Dissection is the process of separating something into pieces. Whether the dissection involves taking a poem apart line-by-line to learn its meaning or cutting open a frog to study its insides, you're pulling out the parts that make up a whole to better understand it.

Let's dissect, or take apart, this word for a moment. Dis- means "apart" and section means "to cut", which come together to form the definition of dissection: "to cut apart." When you cut something up into sections you're doing a dissection. The word is commonly used when talking about the process of cutting something apart for scientific purposes, it's also used to talk about taking apart an argument, a poem, or a plan.

Definitions of dissection

1. noun

   the act of cutting so as to separate into pieces
   type of:

   cut, cutting

   the act of cutting something into parts
2. noun

   a minute and critical analysis
   type of:

   analysis, analytic thinking

   the abstract separation of a whole into its constituent parts in order to study the parts and their relations
3. noun

   detailed critical analysis or examination one part at a time (as of a literary work)
   type of:

   analysis

   an investigation of the component parts of a whole and their relations in making up the whole