WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
mi•to•sis
(mī tō′sis),USA pronunciation n. [Cell Biol.]
mi•tot•ic
(mī tot′ik),USA pronunciation adj.
mi•tot′i•cal•ly, adv.
- Cell Biologythe usual method of cell division, characterized typically by the resolving of the chromatin of the nucleus into a threadlike form, which condenses into chromosomes, each of which separates longitudinally into two parts, one part of each chromosome being retained in each of two new cells resulting from the original cell. Cf. meiosis.
- Greek mít(os) a thread + -osis
- 1885–90;
'mitotic' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):