meiosis
mei.o.sis \mi--'o--s*s\ \mi--'a:t-ik\ \-i-k(*-)le-\ n [NL, fr. Gk meio-sis
diminution, fr. meioun to diminish, fr. ]meio-n less - more at MINOR : the
sequence of complex nuclear changes resulting in the production of c ells
(as gametes) with half the number of chromosomes present in the original
cell and typically involving first an actual reduction division in which
the chromosomes without undergoing prior splitting separate so that of each
pair a chromosome from one parent only enters each daughter nucleus and
secondly a mitotic division - mei.ot.ic aj