Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Anatomy A crossing or intersection of two tracts, as of nerves or ligaments.
  • noun Genetics The point of contact between paired chromatids during meiosis, resulting in a cross-shaped configuration and representing the cytological manifestation of crossing over.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as chiasm.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun anatomy A crossing of two nerves, ligaments etc.
  • noun genetics, cytology The contact point between the two chromatids of a chromosome during meiosis.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an intersection or crossing of two tracts in the form of the letter X

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek khīasma, cross-piece, from khīazein, to mark with an X, from khei, khī, chi (from the letter's shape).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Modern Latin, from Ancient Greek χίασμα, from χίαζειν ("to mark with the letter chi").

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