analytique

Analytique is the French adjective meaning analytic or analytical, used to indicate relation to analysis or to the analytic method. It derives from Latin analyticus, via French from Greek analytikos, formed from ana- “up, again” and lyein “to loosen, to break down.” In French, analytique describes methods, reasoning, or approaches that proceed by breaking a problem into parts and examining their relations, as well as fields built around such methods.

In philosophy, the phrase philosophie analytique designates a major tradition centered on language, logic, science, and rigorous argument. Emergent in the late 19th and 20th centuries, it includes figures such as Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein, and later Carnap, Quine, and others. The tradition emphasizes conceptual clarification, formal methods, and precise argumentation, often with an emphasis on linguistic analysis.

In mathematics and the sciences, analytique appears in terms such as géométrie analytique (analytic geometry), where algebraic methods are used to solve geometric problems. It also occurs in expressions like raisonnement analytique or méthodes analytiques to describe processes that are systematic and decomposition-based, as opposed to synthetic or intuitive approaches. In general usage, analytique remains the standard French term for anything pertaining to analysis or analytic methods.

In English-language texts, analytique is typically used only when referring to the French term or the French-language tradition, while analytic or analytical is used in English contexts.