nounWord forms: plural -ses (-ˌsiːz)1. a type of cell division in which a nucleus divides into four daughter nuclei, each containing half the chromosome number of the parent nucleus: occurs in all sexually reproducing organisms in which haploid gametes or spores are produced
Compare mitosis,
See also prophase (sense 2) 2. rhetoric another word for litotes
Word origin
C16: via New Latin from Greek: a lessening, from
meioun to diminish, from
meiōn less