fission
/ˈfɪʃən/ noun, verb
Forms fissions fissioning fissioned
- noun The process whereby one item splits to become two.
- noun (nuclear physics) nuclear fission: The process of splitting the nucleus of an atom into smaller particles.
- noun (biology) The process by which a bacterium splits to form two daughter cells.
- verb (transitive) To cause to undergo fission.
- verb (intransitive) To undergo fission.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin fissiōnem, accusative singular of fissiō (“the act of breaking up”), from findō (“split, divide”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A cleaving, splitting, or breaking up into parts.
- noun A method of asexual reproduction among the lowest (unicellular) organisms by means of a process of self-division, consisting of gradual division or cleavage of the into two parts, each of which then becomes a separate and independent organisms; as when a cell in an animal or plant, or its germ, undergoes a spontaneous division, and the parts again subdivide. See Segmentation, and Cell division, under Division.
Etymology [L. fissio. See Fissure.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fission”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details