meiosis
|mei-o-sis|
🇺🇸
/maɪˈoʊ.sɪs/
🇬🇧
/maɪˈəʊ.sɪs/
making less; reduction
Etymology
'meiosis' originates from Ancient Greek, specifically the word 'meíōsis', where the root 'meíō-' (from 'meion') meant 'less' or 'to lessen'.
'meíōsis' passed into Late/Modern Latin as 'meiosis' and was adopted into English in the 19th century, first used in rhetoric to mean 'understatement' and later applied in biology to denote the reduction division of chromosomes.
Initially, it meant 'lessening' or 'understatement', but over time it evolved to include the specialized biological meaning of 'reduction division' (a type of cell division that halves the chromosome number).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a type of cell division in sexually reproducing organisms that reduces the chromosome number by half, producing gametes or spores (reduction division).
Meiosis ensures that offspring have the same chromosome number as their parents after fertilization.
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Noun 2
a rhetorical device meaning understatement or deliberate downplaying of something's importance (literary meiosis).
Calling a disastrous event 'a bit of a setback' is an example of meiosis.
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Last updated: 2025/08/29 01:01