Etymology

metaphase

M3E1T1A1P3H4A1S1E1

Today it means: The stage of mitosis and meiosis that follows prophase and comes before anaphase, during which condensed chromosomes become aligned before being separated. Full definition →

English phase ← New Latin phasis ← Ancient Greek φάσις (phásis)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*me
  2. Proto-Indo-European*meth₂?
  3. Ancient Greekμετᾰ́ (metắ)
  4. Ancient Greekμετᾰ- (metă-)
  5. Englishmeta-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰh₂nyéti
  8. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáňňō
  9. Ancient Greekφᾰ(ν)- (phă(n)-)
  10. Ancient Greekφάσις (phásis)
  11. New Latinphasis
  12. Englishphase
  13. English todaymetaphase

From meta- + phase.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.