Zygotene
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The intimate pairing of homologous chromosomes during the synaptic stage of meiosis
- 2 the second stage of the prophase of meiosis wordnet
Etymology
From French zygotène, corresponding to zygo- (“union, zygosis”, from Ancient Greek ζυγόν (zugón, “junction, yoke”)) + -tene (“filament”, from ταινία (tainía, “band, fillet”)), equivalent to zygote + -tene. Coined by Victor Grégoire in 1907 and in English by Edmund B. Wilson in 1912.