Mitosis
/maɪˈtoʊsɪs/noun
A type of cell division in which one cell splits into two genetically identical daughter cells.
Did you know?Mitosis was named in 1882 by German biologist Walther Flemming from Greek *mitos* “thread,” because the chromosomes looked like threads under the microscope.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
μίτος (mitos)
“a thread or warp-thread”
1882
German scientific Latin
mitosis
“a term coined for the process of cell division involving threadlike chromosomes”
Late 19th Century
English
mitosis
“the division of a cell nucleus into two genetically identical nuclei”
Modern English
English
mitosis
“cell division producing two daughter cells”