English
mitosis
Mitosis comes from Ancient Greek μίτος ‘thread’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to bind’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-1‘to bind’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμίτος2mítos‘thread’
- Germanc. 1650–presentMitose2
- Englishtodaymitosis2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek μίτος
- 2 Wiktionary, English mitosis
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek μίτος‘to bind’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμίτοςWiktionary, English mitosismítos‘thread’
- Germanc. 1650–presentMitoseWiktionary, English mitosis
- EnglishtodaymitosisWiktionary, English mitosis
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to bind’
mean, common, community, met, minute, communication, minister, mess, meal, commission, minor, ministry, menu, mutual, communicate, communist, immune, mere, min, commit, compromise, minus, ammunition, immunity, communal, mole, communism, communion, municipality, missile, mural, ammo, mayhem, noodle, premise, dismiss, moor, commune, remuneration, intermittent, 77 more
Today it means
noun The division of a cell nucleus in which the genome is copied and separated into two identical halves. It is normally followed by cell division.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “mitosis”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek μίτος. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mey- / mitosis