meiosis

meiosis
meiosis "division of a cell nucleus," 1905, from Gk. meiosis "a lessening," from meioun "to lessen," from meion "less," from PIE root *mei- "small" (see MINUS (Cf. minus)).
Earlier (1580s) it was a rhetorical term, a figure of speech "weak or negative expression used for a positive and forcible one, so that it may be made all the more emphatic," as when one says "not bad" meaning "very good" or "don't mind if I do" meaning "I really would like to," or this example from "Mark Twain":
"YOUNG AUTHOR." -- Yes Agassiz does recommend authors to eat fish, because the phosphorus in it makes brains. So far you are correct. But I cannot help you to a decision about the amount you need to eat,--at least, not with certainty. If the specimen composition you send is about your fair usual average, I should judge that perhaps a couple of whales would be all you would want for the present. Not the largest kind, but simply good, middling-sized whales.
Related: meiotic; meiotically.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Meiosis — es una de las formas de la reproducción celular. Este proceso se realiza en las glandulas sexuales para la produccion de gametos. Es un proceso de división celular en el cual una célula diploide (2n) experimenta dos divisiones sucesivas, con la… …   Wikipedia Español

  • meiosis — f. citol. División celular propia de las células germinales durante el proceso de maduración que transformará la ovogonia en ovocito y la espermatogonia en espermatocito. Se trata de una división reduccional, es decir, una división celular en la… …   Diccionario médico

  • meiosis — pronounced miy oh sis, is a figure of speech involving an emphatic understatement made for effect, as when something outstanding is described as ‘rather good’. A literary example occurs in Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet, where Mercutio refers to… …   Modern English usage

  • meiosis — o meyosis sustantivo femenino 1. Área: biología Proceso de división celular por el cual, a partir de una célula madre, se originan cuatro células hijas o gametos y se reduce el número de cromosomas a la mitad: La meiosis está presente en el… …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • meiosis — [mī ō′sis] n. [ModL < Gr meiōsis < meioun, to make smaller < meiōn, less: see MINOR] 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… …   English World dictionary

  • Meiosis — Mei*o sis (m[ i]*[=o] s[i^]s), n. [NL., fr. Gr. mei wsis, fr. meioy^n to make smaller, from mei wn. See {Meionite}.] 1. (Rhet.) Diminution; a species of hyperbole, representing a thing as being less than it really is; understatement; see also… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • meiosis — meiosis. См. деление созревания. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • Meiōsis — (gr.), 1) krankhafte Verkleinerung eines Theils; 2) so v.w. Myosis; 3) rhetorische Figur, die, scheinbar verkleinernd, vergrößert; z.B. Abraham war nicht schwach (d.i. sehr stark) im Glauben …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Meiosis — Meiosis, griech. = Verminderung, rhetorische Figur, wobei man sich eines scheinbar verringernden Ausdrucks bedient, um den Gegenstand schärfer hervorzuheben …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • meiosis — (Del gr. μείωσις, disminución). f. Biol. Sucesión de dos divisiones celulares durante la formación de los gametos, de la que resultan cuatro células que tienen un cromosoma de cada pareja de la célula original …   Diccionario de la lengua española

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