meiosis Hear it!

meiosis definition

meio·sis (mī ō′sis)

noun

  1. 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
  2. litotes

Etymology: ModL < Gr meiōsis < meioun, to make smaller < meiōn, less: see minor

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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