[ mʌɪ'əʊsɪs ]
■ noun ( plural meioses -si:z )
1》 Biology a type of cell division that results in daughter cells each with half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell. Compare with mitosis .
2》 another term for litotes .
Derivatives
meiotic adjective
meiotically adverb
Origin
C16: mod. L., from Gk meiōsis , from meioun 'lessen'.