MEIOSIS

noun Etymology: New Latin, from Greek meiōsis diminution, from meioun to diminish, from meiōn less; akin to Sanskrit mīyate he diminishes Date: 1550 the presentation of a thing with underemphasis especially in order to achieve a greater effect ; understatement, the cellular process that results in the number of chromosomes in gamete-producing cells being reduced to one half and that involves a reduction division in which one of each pair of homologous chromosomes passes to each daughter cell and a mitotic division, meiotic adjective meiotically adverb