μείωσις

Forms

μείωσῐς (meíōsis) f (genitive μειώσεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek μειόω (meióō, “to lessen, diminish”) + -σις (-sis).^[1][2][3] The verb is made from μείων (meíōn, “less, smaller”), which Beekes takes to be an old comparative from the verbal root Proto-Indo-European *meyH- (“to lessen”), seen also in Sanskrit मिनाति (minā́ti, “to lessen, damage”),^[4] and Mycenaean has the comparative as Mycenaean Greek me-u-jo and Mycenaean Greek me-wi-jo.^[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Hippocratic writings use it for diminution, as of the bones, in contrast with growth.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle uses it in the Categories and in his work on coming to be as a kind of change, the opposite of αὔξησις (aúxēsis, “growth”), and Theophrastus in botany.^[2] Polybius uses it for the shortening of days and nights and for the fall of a river's water.^[3] Astronomers and Galen use it for the waning of the moon, and Vettius Valens for loss of property.^[2][5] The Epistle to Diognetus speaks of the cutting of the flesh in circumcision, and a papyrus of the 6th century AD uses it of taxes.^[5] Hesychius glosses it as “lessening” and as “impurity”.^[8]

In Modern Greek μείωση (míosi) is a learned continuation of the ancient word, meaning a decrease, a slight to someone, and, in biology, a kind of cell division.^[9] English took meiosis in the 1580s as a term of rhetoric for understatement, and in 1905 as the name of a cell division.^[6]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic Mochlicon uses it of the diminution of the bones.^[2][10]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle treats it as the opposite of growth.^[2][7][10]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of shortening days and a falling river.^[3][10]
• 2nd century AD – Cleomedes and Galen use it of the waning moon, and Vettius Valens of loss of property.^[2][5][10]
• 1580s – English borrows meiosis as a term of rhetoric.^[6]
• Modern Greek – The learned word μείωση (míosi) means reduction and, in biology, meiosis.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Diminution, lessening, decrease, as opposed to growth.^[2][5][11]
2. Of days and nights, shortening; of a river, a fall in its water.^[3]
3. Of the moon, waning.^[2]
4. Loss of property.^[2]

Related words

• μειόω (meióō)
• μείων (meíōn)
• αὔξησις (aúxēsis)
• English meiosis

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
11. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli