Etymology From New Latin autopsia, from Ancient Greek αὐτοψῐ́ᾱ (autopsĭ́ā, “seeing with one's own eyes”). By surface analysis, auto- + -opsy.
1
A dissection performed on a cadaver to find possible cause(s) of death.
The autopsy revealed he had died of multiple bullet wounds.
2
Figuratively An after-the-fact examination, especially of the causes of a failure.
This lack of built-in clutter makes the system easy to comprehend. Debugging facilities are few but powerful: snapshots, tracing, and autopsy.1977, National Science Foundation (U.S.), Washington State University. Computer Science Dept, Proceedings of Conference on Computers in the Undergraduate Curricula (issue 8)
Understanding exactly what happened and why is an essential first step to winning back the White House. ¶ In addition to the autopsy, the DNC should abandon the penchant for secrecy and embrace the principles of transparency and accountability that helped inspire and engage millions of people to participate in the 2008 Obama campaign.2017 January 19, Steve Phillips, “The Next DNC Chair Must Abandon Color-Blind Politics”, in The Nation, new York, N.Y.: The Nation Company, L.P., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Aug 2022:
3
Rare An eyewitness observation, the presentation of an event as witnessed.
Etymology From New Latin autopsia, from Ancient Greek αὐτοψῐ́ᾱ (autopsĭ́ā, “seeing with one's own eyes”). By surface analysis, auto- + -opsy.
1
To perform an autopsy on.
2
To perform an after-the-fact analysis of, especially of a failure.
The user may define his own errors, and use DUMPAL to autopsy the system for him.1977, National Science Foundation (U.S.), Washington State University. Computer Science Dept, Proceedings of Conference on Computers in the Undergraduate Curricula (issue 8)