Etymology

leptonema

L1E1P3T1O1N1E1M3A1

Today it means: The stage during meiosis Prophase 1 where the chromosomes condense after S-phase and interphase, resulting in the recombination of haploid chromosome pairs with sister chromatids held by a single non-dividing centromeres, and followed by the zygotene stage. Full definition →

English lepto- ← Ancient Greek λεπτός (leptós)
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The story

  1. Ancient Greekλεπτός (leptós)
  2. Englishlepto-
  3. English todayleptonema

From lepto- (“thin”) + -nema (“filiform structure”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.