Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Genetics The process of cell division in sexually reproducing organisms that reduces the number of chromosomes in reproductive cells from diploid to haploid, leading to the production of gametes in animals and spores in plants.
- n. Rhetorical understatement.
Wiktionary
- n. a figure of speech whereby something is made to seem smaller or less important than it is
- n. Cell division of a diploid cell into four haploid cells, which develop to produce gametes.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Diminution; a species of hyperbole, representing a thing as being less than it really is; understatement; see also litotes.
- n. The cellular process by which a diploid progenitor cell forms haploid gametes, including a division of one diploid cell into two cells, each with one of the homologous sets of chromosomes.
WordNet 3.0
- n. understatement for rhetorical effect (especially when expressing an affirmative by negating its contrary)
- n. (genetics) cell division that produces reproductive cells in sexually reproducing organisms; the nucleus divides into four nuclei each containing half the chromosome number (leading to gametes in animals and spores in plants)
Etymologies
- Greek meiōsis, diminution, from meioun, to diminish, from meiōn, less; see mei-2 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“My own mnemonic system depends on the fact that the word meiosis has been “reduced,” from mitosis, to the extent of not containing the letter t.”
“Incorrect chromosome division during meiosis is the commonest cause of spontaneous miscarriage during pregnancy, and an extra chromosome 21 in humans leads to Down's syndrome.”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2004 - Information for the Public
“The process by which the DNA load is halved is termed meiosis.”
“The process of gamete formation involves a specialized form of cell division called meiosis, which is tightly regulated by molecular processes within the cell.”
“It’s possible the last time I heard the word meiosis was in my Anatomy and Physiology class in college.”
“The transmission of genes from parent to offspring is carried out in a special process of cellular division called meiosis, which produces gamete cells containing one chromosome from each paired set.”
“This is because when they form they discard half of their chromosomes in a process called meiosis.”
“In cells undergoing the sexual cell division process called meiosis, there are lots of double-Holliday junctions and lots of crossovers.”
“The cells are formed by a special process of cell division, called meiosis, which results in the halving of the chromosome number in each parental gamete so that the full complement can be restored when sperm and ovum unite.”
WN.com - Articles related to Philippines Tests Sex Education In Public Schools
“This reduction is accomplished through a process called meiosis, where one chromosome in a diploid pair is sent to each daughter gamete.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘meiosis’.
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My . . . uh . . .
maija, maya, maia, mia, mya, maieutics, maja, miya, mialuthien, miah, maya deren, maya lin and 177 more...
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Rhetorical Devices
syllepsis, zeugma, trope, wellerism, anastrophe, anaphora, apostrophe, metonymy, chiasmus, antimetabole, syncope, open-list and 431 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( etymology )
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 837 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Breaking free from "I before E"
Words that have an I after an E after a letter that's not C.
sheik, seize, weird, foreign, caffeine, apartheid, deity, heifer, leisure, being, either, height and 30 more...
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demiscient
words which are homophonous/homonymous with or very similar to science jargon, but which are not.
I'm not sure how many of these there are, but I found two shocking examples today.meiosis, paradiastole, colon, synesthesia, zoomorphism, chiasmus, idempotency, catalexis, prolepsis
bilby The moment of conception of a kitten. Sep 28, 2008