Standard Lemma guide

necropsy

noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈnɛkɹɒpsi/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /nɪˈkɹɒpsi/
  • General-American: /ˈnɛkɹɑpsi/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The pathological examination of a corpse, particularly to determine cause of death.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To perform a necropsy on.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

an examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death or the changes produced by disease

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: autopsy, postmortem, post-mortem, PM, postmortem examination, post-mortem examination

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: examination, scrutiny

History

Etymology

From necro- + -opsy.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: дисекция (disekcija) — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • Catalan: necròpsia — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • Danish: obduktion — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • Esperanto: nekropsio — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • Esperanto: obdukcio — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • Esperanto: aŭtopsio — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • Finnish: nekropsia — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • Finnish: ruumiinavaus — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • French: nécropsie — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • German: Nekropsie — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • Greek: νεκροψία (nekropsía) — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • Portuguese: necropsia — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • Swedish: obduktion — pathological dissection of a corpse
  • French: nécropsie — to perform a necropsy
  • Greek: νεκροψία (nekropsía) — to perform a necropsy
  • Portuguese: necropsiar — to perform a necropsy