autopsy

The word “autopsy” means a medical examination of a dead body to determine the cause of death. In plain terms, a close examination after death (or after a failure) to work out exactly what happened.

“Autopsy” is pronounced AW-top-see (/ˈɔ.tɑp.si/ in IPA).

Here is “autopsy” used in a sentence: “The coroner ordered an autopsy to confirm how the victim died.”

“Autopsy” is a noun.

The word “autopsy” comes from New Latin. From New Latin autopsia, from Greek autopsía, "seeing with one's own eyes" — from autós ("self") and the root behind "-opsy" ("seeing").

“Autopsy” is an uncommon word in modern English.

“Autopsy” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a medical examination of a dead body to determine the cause of death.

Autopsy and post-mortem examination refer to the same medical procedure of examining a dead body to determine the cause of death. Post-mortem is more common in British English, while autopsy is more common in American English. The two terms are used interchangeably in medical and legal settings.

An autopsy is performed to determine the cause of death, which may be legally required in cases of sudden, violent, or unexplained death. It can also confirm or rule out a suspected medical condition or support research. Findings may be used in legal investigations or shared with the family.

Outside medicine, an autopsy refers to a detailed review of something after it has gone wrong, aimed at identifying what caused the failure. This usage is common in business and technology, such as an autopsy of a failed project or system outage. The goal is learning from mistakes rather than assigning blame.