meiosis en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /maɪˈoʊ.sɪs/ (General-American)
- /maɪˈəʊ.sɪs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /meɪˈoʊ.sɪs/ (Philippines)
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μείωσις (meíōsis, “a lessening”), from μειόω (meióō, “I lessen”), from μείων (meíōn, “less”). The biological sense was coined by British biologists John Bretland Farmer and John Edmund Sharrock Moore in 1905 as maiosis in a paper in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopic Science, with the spelling corrected on etymological grounds later that year. Doublet of miosis.
Meanings
-
(countable, rhetoric, uncountable) A figure of speech in which something is presented as smaller or less significant than it actually appears.
I knew, with one of those secret knowledges that can exist between two people, that her suicide was a direct result of my having told her of my own attempt – I had told it with a curt meiosis that was meant to conceal depths; and she had called my bluff one final time.
1965, John Fowles, The Magus:
- (uncountable, usually) Cell division of a diploid cell into four haploid cells, which develop to produce gametes.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| meioses | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| miosis | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| maiosis | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic |
Antonyms
exaggeration · hyperbole · auxesis · overstatement
Coordinates
Deriveds
meiome · meiotically · meiotic · premeiosis · postmeiosis · apomeiosis
Meronyms
prophase · telophase · anaphase · reduction division · metaphase · equation division
Synonyms
reduction division · understatement
Translations (44)
kk мейоз (cell division) · pt meiose (cell division) · ca miosi (cell division) · es meiosis (cell division) · fa میوز (cell division) · gl meiose (cell division) · ru мейо́з (cell division) · ka მეიოზი (cell division) · ml ഊനഭംഗം (cell division) · is meiósa (cell division) · el μείωση (cell division) · fi meioosi (cell division) · cmn 減數分裂 /减数分裂 (cell division) · nl meiose (cell division) · cs meióza (cell division) · he מִיוֹזָה (cell division) · tr mayoz bölünme (cell division) · ca meiosi (cell division) · is rýriskipting (cell division) · vi giảm phân (cell division) · eu meiosi (cell division) · id meiosis (cell division) · kn ಮಿಯಾಸಿಸ್ (cell division) · yue 減數分裂 /减数分裂 (cell division) · pl mejoza (cell division) · fr méiose (cell division) · de Meiose (cell division) · ky мейоз (cell division) · hi अर्धसूत्रण (cell division) · oc meiòsi (cell division) · ja 減数分裂 (cell division) · ml മയോസിസ് (cell division) · tr mayoz (cell division) · af meiose (cell division) · hi अर्धसूत्री विभाजन (cell division) · pt miose (cell division) · hu meiózis (cell division) · nan-hbl 減數分裂 /减数分裂 (cell division) · ta ஒடுக்கற்பிரிவு (cell division) · eo mejozo (cell division) · sv meios (cell division) · mn мейоз (cell division) · mi wehenga pūtau (cell division) · bn মিয়োসিস (cell division)