Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

meiosis

/maɪˈoʊ.sɪs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.56 in modern English

Syllables: meio-sis
IPA: /maɪˈoʊ.sɪs/

9

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

3

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A figure of speech in which something is presented as smaller or less significant than it actually appears.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

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

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"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."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μείωσις (meíōsis, “a lessening”), from μειόω (meióō, “I lessen”), from μείων (meíōn, “less”). The biological sense was coined by British biologists John Bretland Farmer and John Edmund Sharrock Moore in 1905 as maiosis in a paper in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopic Science, with the spelling corrected on etymological grounds later that year. Doublet of miosis.

Origin

Source language: Ancient Greek

Word Breakdown

Root: μείωσις

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /maɪˈoʊ.sɪs/
British English: /maɪˈəʊ.sɪs/

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Biology.

Inflected Forms

meioses (plural) maiosis (alternative, obsolete) miosis (alternative, obsolete)

Derived Forms

apomeiosis meiome meiotic meiotically postmeiosis premeiosis

Frequently Paired Words

mitosis

Synonyms

understatement reduction division litotes miosis

Homonyms

miosis

Antonyms

hyperbole overstatement exaggeration auxesis

Rhymes With

diagnosis prognosis sclerosis hypnosis psychosis fibrosis necrosis cirrhosis thrombosis symbiosis neurosis acidosis

Questions

How do you pronounce meiosis?: The recorded pronunciation is /maɪˈoʊ.sɪs/.
What does meiosis mean?: A figure of speech in which something is presented as smaller or less significant than it actually appears.
Where does meiosis come from?: It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce meiosis

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “meiosis”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/maɪˈoʊ.sɪs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “meiosis”.
Repeat and practice — Say “meiosis” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.