analyse

American  

[an-l-ahyz] / ˈæn lˌaɪz /

verb (used with object)

Chiefly British.

analysed, analysing

1. a variant of analyze.

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analyse British  

/ ˈænəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. to examine in detail in order to discover meaning, essential features, etc

2. to break down into components or essential features

   to analyse a financial structure

3. to make a mathematical, chemical, grammatical, etc, analysis of

4. another word for psychoanalyse

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Other Word Forms

• analysable adjective
• analysation noun
• analyser noun

Etymology

Origin of analyse

C17: back formation from _analysis

Explanation

To analyse (analyze is U.S. English) something is to consider it in detail so you can figure out its workings or meaning. Analyse comes from Greek roots meaning "loosen." If you analyse something, it's as if you're untying it and letting the different parts separate so that you can study them. If you've got some mystery substance, you can analyse it by performing chemical reactions to break it into its parts. If you analyse a poem, you look at it word-by-word and even sound-by-sound. But remember that analyse is a British spelling, with analyze as the American version.

Example Sentences

The data also suggests that the majority of golfers visit simulators to analyse their swings, have golf lessons, or play certain trophy holes in a social environment rather than to play a full round.

From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026

Company boss Alan Finkel says systems like his are vital because industry efforts to analyse and label content as being made with AI have failed.

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026

The Kremlin said Tuesday that it would analyse the problems the outages pose for businesses.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

To understand the trends and tactics teams are increasingly using this season, there is no better case study to analyse than Arsenal's opener against Chelsea in their 2-1 Premier League win earlier this month.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2026

Tycho had the greatest body of accurate astronomical data yet assembled, but was tired and in need of help to analyse the material.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin