D defs.my
Entry 2 senses Webster, 1913

Meiosis

/(mī̇*ō"sĭs)/ · Mei·o·sis · IPA /maɪˈoʊ.sɪs/
01 n. Diminution; a species of hyperbole, representing a thing as being less than it really is; understatement; see also litotes.
  1. 1.
    Diminution; a species of hyperbole, representing a thing as being less than it really is; understatement; see also litotes.(Rhet.)
  2. 2.
    The cellular process by which a diploid progenitor cell forms haploid gametes, including a division of one diploid cell into two cells, each with one of the homologous sets of chromosomes.(Cell Biology)