Meiosis Definition
mī-ōsĭs
meioses
noun
meioses
The process of two consecutive nuclear divisions in the formation of germ cells in animals and of spores in most plants, by which the number of chromosomes ordinarily is reduced from the diploid, or double, number found in somatic cells to the haploid, or halved, number found in gametes and in spores.
Webster's New World
Rhetorical understatement.
American Heritage
Webster's New World
(countable, rhetoric) A figure of speech whereby something is made to seem smaller or less important than it actually is.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
Other Word Forms of Meiosis
Noun
Singular:
meiosis
Plural:
meiosesOrigin of Meiosis
-
Greek meiōsis diminution from meioun to diminish from meiōn less mei-2 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Modern Latin, from Ancient Greek μείωσις (meiōsis, “a lessening"), from μειόω (meioō, “I lessen"), from μείων (meiōn, “less").
From Wiktionary
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