This section is from "The Encyclopaedia Britannica". Also available from Amazon: Great Books of the Western World (60 Volumes).
Autopsy (Gr. αὐτός, self, and ὄψις, sight, investigation), a personal examination, specifically a post-mortem ("after death") examination of a dead body, to ascertain the cause of death, etc. The term "necropsy" (Gr. νεκρός, corpse) is sometimes used in this sense. (See Coroner and Medical Jurisprudence.)
 
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