meiosis

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: mei=o=sis

CIDE DICTIONARY

meiosis, n. [NL., fr. Gr. mei`wsis, fr. meioy^n to make smaller, from mei`wn. See Meionite.].

•  Diminution; a species of hyperbole, representing a thing as being less than it really is; understatement; see also litotes.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

meiosis, n.
1 Biol. a type of cell division that results in daughter cells with half the chromosome number of the parent cell (cf. MITOSIS).
2 = LITOTES.

Derivative

meiotic adj. meiotically adv.

Etymology

mod.L f. Gk meiosis f. meioo lessen f. meion less