Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
The tangled mass of strands of chromatin seen in the early stages of mitosis, originally believed to be a single continuous strand (or two in a diploid cell, etc.)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated
Topics: biochemistry, biology, chemistry, cytology, medicine, microbiology, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: skein
Antonyms: none provided
History
From Ancient Greek σπείραμα (speírama, “convolution”), ultimately from σπεῖρα (speîra). Probably influenced by -eme.
Across languages
1 source translations are retained for this English entry.
