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a special type of cell division that happens in two stages and produces four cells, each with half the number of chromosomes of the original cell, for the purpose of sexual reproduction （细胞的）减数分裂 Word Originmid 16th cent. (as another term for litotes): modern Latin, from Greek meiōsis, from meioun ‘lessen’, from meiōn ‘less’. The current sense dates from the early 20th cent.