autopsy

noun

au·​top·​sy ˈȯ-ˌtäp-sē 

ˈȯ-təp-

plural autopsies

1

: an examination of a body after death to determine the cause of death or the character and extent of changes produced by disease

called also necropsy

2

: a critical examination, evaluation, or assessment of someone or something past

autopsy transitive verb

Synonyms

• necropsy
• postmortem
• postmortem examination

Examples of autopsy in a Sentence

The coroner performed an autopsy on the murder victim's body.

the autopsy revealed an advanced stage of cancer

Recent Examples on the Web

The Department of State does not conduct nor pay for autopsies. —Ross Rosenfeld, Newsweek, 26 Feb. 2025

An autopsy would later show the boy suffered 26 stab wounds. —Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 26 Feb. 2025

The preliminary investigation and exam were inconclusive regarding the cause of death, which will be determined by an autopsy to be conducted by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office, officials told The News. —Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 19 Feb. 2025

An autopsy later revealed that Petito died of strangulation. —Barry Levitt, TIME, 17 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

earlier, "act of seeing with one's own eyes, direct observation," borrowed from New Latin autopsia, borrowed from Greek autopsía, from aut- aut- + -opsia, later variant of -opsis "act of seeing, sight" — more at optic entry 1

Note: Use of the word in English to refer specifically to the examination of a corpse is apparently not known before the nineteenth century. The Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, notes French autopsie in the sense "post-mortem examination" from "1671 or earlier," but gives no source for an attestation. In French the phrase autopsie cadavérique is fairly common after 1800, but does not seem to have been used earlier. In Latin medical texts of the eighteenth century, the phrase autopsia cadaverum "autopsy of cadavers" (with variants) can be found in a number of texts, as the Synopsis universae praxeos medicae, pars prima (Amsterdam, 1765) of the French physician Joseph Lieutaud.

First Known Use

1805, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for autopsy

• necropsy
• dropsy

Kids Definition

autopsy

noun

au·​top·​sy ˈȯ-ˌtäp-sē 

ˈȯt-əp-

plural autopsies

: an examination of a dead body especially to find out the cause of death

autopsy verb

Etymology

from Greek autopsia "the act of seeing with one's own eyes," from aut- "self" and opsis "sight," from opsesthai "to be going to see" — related to optic

Medical Definition

autopsy

1 of 2 noun

au·​top·​sy ˈȯ-ˌtäp-sē  ˈȯt-əp- 

plural autopsies

: an examination of the body after death usually with such dissection as will expose the vital organs for determining the cause of death or the character and extent of changes produced by disease

called also necropsy, postmortem, postmortem examination

autopsy

2 of 2 transitive verb

autopsied; autopsying

: to perform an autopsy on

Legal Definition

autopsy

noun

au·​top·​sy ˈȯ-ˌtäp-sē, -təp- 

plural autopsies

: an examination of a body after death usually involving dissection especially to determine the cause of death

called also post mortem, post mortem examination

autopsy transitive verb