Microanalysis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Close, detailed examination of very small samples, particles or components, often using sophisticated instruments to reveal their structure
2. The careful study of minute quantities of a substance or tiny parts of a whole in order to determine their composition
3. A fine-grained scientific investigation that breaks material down into its smallest elements to understand what it is made of

Etymology: Microanalysis is a modern coinage built from two older parts: "micro-", from the Greek "mikros" meaning "small", and "analysis", which goes back to the Greek "analysis", a "loosening up" or "breaking down" of something into its parts. The Greek word combined "ana-" (up, back, again) with "lyein" (to loosen), so analysis originally meant taking something apart to see how it works. The analysis half reached English through Medieval Latin, where it was borrowed from Greek and used in the sense of separating a whole into its components. Its scientific and logical senses developed from that basic idea of dismantling, and English adopted it in that broadened form. Microanalysis takes the same logic and applies it to very small quantities or very small scales. The "micro-" prefix, which came into scientific use to mean "very small" or "one millionth of", was attached to "analysis" to describe techniques that examine tiny samples. The compound is therefore a straightforward combination of existing parts rather than a word with a dramatic history of its own.