English
meiosis
Meiosis comes from Ancient Greek μείωσις ‘a lessening’, from μείων ‘less’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘small, little’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-‘small, little’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμείωνmeíōn‘less’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEμειόωmeióō‘I lessen’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEμείωσιςmeíōsis‘a lessening’
- Englishearliest quotation 1965meiosis
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-‘small, little’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμείωνmeíōn‘less’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEμειόωmeióō‘I lessen’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEμείωσιςmeíōsis‘a lessening’
- Englishearliest quotation 1965meiosis
Earliest quotation: 1965, John Fowles: “I knew, with one of those secret knowledges that…”
The story
The biological sense was coined by British biologists John Bretland Farmer and John Edmund Sharrock Moore in 1905 as maiosis in a paper in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopic Science, with the spelling corrected on etymological grounds later that year.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘small, little’
community, mean, common, minute, minister, met, minor, communication, ministry, commission, min, commit, mess, mutual, meal, communicate, communist, immune, minus, menu, compromise, immunity, mere, ammunition, missile, municipality, communal, mole, dismiss, communism, premise, mural, ammo, mayhem, communion, noodle, intermittent, moor, commune, remuneration, 79 more
Today it means
noun A figure of speech in which something is presented as smaller or less significant than it actually appears.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mey- / meiosis