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Complete Definition of "meiosis"

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English

Etymology
Modern Latin, from AGr. polytonic|μείωσις (meiōsis) "a lessening" < polytonic|μειόω (meioō) "I lessen" < polytonic|μείων (meiōn) "less".

Pronunciation
IPA|/maɪˈəʊsɪs/
rhymes|əʊsɪs

Noun
meiosis (plural meioses)

  1. rhetoric a figure of speech whereby something is made to seem smaller or less important than it is

#:*1965: 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. — John Fowles, The Magus

  1. cytology Cell division of a diploid cell into four haploid cells, which develop to produce gametes.

Derived terms
meiotic
meiotically

Antonyms
hyperbole

See also
auxesis
litotes
mitosis
paradiastole

Translations
trans-top|cell division
Dutch: t|nl|meiose|f
Finnish: t|fi|meioosi
German: t|de|Meiose|f
Greek: t|el|μείωση|f|sc=Grek
trans-mid
Hungarian: t-|hu|meiózis
Turkish: mayoz
trans-bottom

es:meiosis
gl:meiosis
id:meiosis
fi:meiosis
vi:meiosis
tr:meiosis
zh:meiosis

Revision and Credits for"meiosis"
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