Other forms: autopsies
An autopsy is the examination of a body to discover the cause of death. Order an autopsy, the autopsy showed, an autopsy report.
Post-mortem is the commoner British word for the same thing. It is ordered when the death is sudden, violent or unexplained, and the coroner can require one without the family's consent. Note that the Greek means seeing with one's own eyes, which is the whole principle of it.
1nounautopsyThe examination of a body to discover the cause of death.
“The autopsy showed that the man had died of a heart attack.”
autopsy is an examination.
Greek autopsia means seeing with one's own eyes — autos, self, plus opsis, sight. Optic and automatic come from the two halves.
Ancient Greek
αὐτοψῐ́ᾱ — seeing with one's own eyes
New Latin
autopsia
English, today
autopsy
From New Latin autopsia, from Ancient Greek αὐτοψῐ́ᾱ (“seeing with one's own eyes”). by surface analysis, auto- + -opsy.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA