Vivisection

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌvɪ.vɪˈsɛk.ʃən/

Definitions

1. The practice of conducting operations on live animals for experimental purposes is known as a form of scientific research and a controversial ethical issue
2. A method involving the dissection or surgical procedures performed on living organisms to study physiological processes is employed for research aims
3. The act of performing experiments on living animals, often to explore biological functions, raises significant moral and ethical debates in society

Etymology: Vivisection is built from two Latin words: "vīvus", meaning "alive", and "sectiō", meaning "cutting", the noun from "secāre" to cut. The compound is a plain description of what it names, cutting into a living body, and the same "vīvus" root also gives English "vivid" and "vivacious." The word is a direct sibling of French "vivisection," and it reached English as a technical coinage rather than an old folk term. Its meaning has stayed narrow: it refers to surgery or experiments on living animals, usually for research, and the older sense of simply cutting something alive has faded from use.

Synonyms: animal experimentation, dissection, surgery, operational study, physiological investigation