Definitions

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

  • noun The process in cell division by which the nucleus divides, typically consisting of four stages, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase, and normally resulting in two new nuclei, each of which contains a complete copy of the parental chromosomes.
  • noun The entire process of cell division including division of the nucleus and the cytoplasm.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Splitting of the chromatin of a nucleus, or subdivision of any minute granular bodies embedded in living protoplasm. The mitosis occurring in nuclear kinetics is commonly qualified as karyomitosis.
  • noun A figure occurring during mitosis as a result of that process.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Biol.) See karyokinesis.

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

  • noun cytology The division of a cell nucleus in which the genome is copied and separated into two identical halves. It is normally followed by cell division.

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

  • noun cell division in which the nucleus divides into nuclei containing the same number of chromosomes

Etymologies

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

[Greek mitos, warp thread + –osis.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From German Mitosis, from Ancient Greek μίτος (mitos, "thread") + -osis, probably in reference to the thread-like chromatin seen during mitosis.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Q: What did the biologist say when he dropped his slides on the lab floor?

    A: Don't step on mitosis!

    March 10, 2008

  • Oh gawd, ofravens. ;-)

    March 11, 2008

  • For sentimental reasons, probably my favourite joke of all time. :)

    March 11, 2008