Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

spireme

[spahy-reem]
See more synonyms for spireme on Thesaurus.com
noun Cell Biology.
  1. the threadlike chromatin of a cell nucleus, present during early meiosis or mitosis.
Show More

Origin of spireme

1885–90; < Greek speírēma coil, equivalent to speirē-, variant stem of speirâsthai to be coiled around + -ma noun suffix of result
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for spireme

Historical Examples

  • The spireme here, as also in figure 99, is fine and closely interwound.

    Studies in Spermatogenesis (Part 1 of 2)

    Nettie Maria Stevens

  • Figure 55 shows the spireme segmented and split longitudinally.

  • In iron-hæmatoxylin preparations this pair is often obscured by parts of the spireme which are tangled around it.

    Studies in Spermatogenesis

    Nettie Maria Stevens

  • As in most of the other species of Coleoptera, the unequal pair is not distinguishable until the spireme stage.

    Studies in Spermatogenesis

    Nettie Maria Stevens

  • It is closely applied to the nuclear membrane and is connected with an end of the spireme (figs. 51-54).

British Dictionary definitions for spireme

spireme

noun
  1. cytology the tangled mass of chromatin threads into which the nucleus of a cell is resolved at the start of mitosis
Show More

Word Origin

C19: from Greek speirēma a coil, from speira a coil, spire ²
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012