analysis

The definition of analysis is the process of breaking down a something into its parts to learn what they do and how they relate to one another.

(noun)

Examining blood in a lab to discover all of its components is an example of analysis.

See analysis in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun pl. analyses

1. a separating or breaking up of any whole into its parts, esp. with an examination of these parts to find out their nature, proportion, function, interrelationship, etc.
2. any detailed examination
a statement of the results of this process
psychoanalysis
Linguis. the use of word order and uninflected function words rather than inflection to express syntactic relationships
Math. a branch of mathematics, including calculus, that deals with functions and limits and their generalizations
systems analysis

Origin: ML < Gr, a dissolving < ana-, up, throughout + lysis, a loosing < lyein, to loose: see lose

See analysis in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun pl. a·nal·y·ses (-sēzˌ)

a. The separation of an intellectual or material whole into its constituent parts for individual study.
b. The study of such constituent parts and their interrelationships in making up a whole.
c. A spoken or written presentation of such study: published an analysis of poetic meter.
Chemistry
a. The separation of a substance into its constituent elements to determine either their nature (qualitative analysis) or their proportions (quantitative analysis).
b. The stated findings of such a separation or determination.
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.
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.
Psychoanalysis.
Systems analysis.