meiosis
3 synonyms and 2 antonyms for meiosis, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A type of cell division that produces four sex cells, each with half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell. It happens in two rounds and shuffles genetic material, so no two gametes are identical.
Synonyms
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
A type of cell division that produces four sex cells, each with half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell. It happens in two rounds and shuffles genetic material, so no two gametes are identical.
“Meiosis halves the chromosome number so that fertilisation restores it.”
Opposites
2. noun
A figure of speech in which something is deliberately described as smaller or less important than it is, for ironic effect.
“Calling the hurricane "a spot of weather" is meiosis.”
Opposites
How to use meiosis
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Technical; the biological sense dominates in general use, the rhetorical sense appears in literary criticism.
Etymology
From Greek meiosis 'a lessening', from meioun 'to make smaller'.
Full origin of meiosis →