- Also called: necropsy, postmortem examination
dissection and examination of a dead body to determine the cause of death an eyewitness observation any critical analysis
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
au•top•sy /ˈɔtɑpsi/USA pronunciation
n., pl. -sies, v., -sied, -sy•ing.
n. [countable]
v. [~ + object]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025n. [countable]
- Medicinethe examination or inspection of a dead body to determine the cause of death;
postmortem. - a critical analysis of something past:After the game the coach conducted an autopsy of the team's performance.
v. [~ + object]
- Medicineto perform an autopsy on:autopsied the body.
au•top•sy
(ô′top sē, ô′təp-),USA pronunciation n., pl. -sies, v., -sied, -sy•ing.
n.
v.t.
au′top•sist, n.
n.
- Medicineinspection and dissection of a body after death, as for determination of the cause of death;
postmortem examination. - Medicinean analysis of something after it has been done or made.
v.t.
- Medicineto perform an autopsy on.
- Greek autopsía a seeing with one's own eyes, equivalent. to aut- aut- + óps(is) -opsis + -ia -y3
- Middle French autopsie)
- (1645–55
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'autopsy' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):