synapsis
Americannoun
plural
synapses-
Also called syndesis. Cell Biology. the pairing of homologous chromosomes, one from each parent, during early meiosis.
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Physiology. synapse.
noun
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cytology the association in pairs of homologous chromosomes at the start of meiosis
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another word for synapse
Other Word Forms
- synaptic adjective
- synaptical adjective
- synaptically adverb
Etymology
Origin of synapsis
1645–55; < New Latin < Greek sýnapsis “junction,” equivalent to synap- (stem of synáptein “to make contact,” equivalent to syn- syn- + (h)áptein “to touch”) + -sis -sis
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This photocurrent mimics the responses transmitted by synapsis in the human brain, enabling the device to interpret and process biological information received from optical sensors.
From Science Daily • Mar. 11, 2024
Misaligned or incomplete synapsis, or a dysfunction of the spindle apparatus that facilitates chromosome migration, can cause nondisjunction.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Scientists thought chiasmata were a variation on synapsis and could not understand how chromosomes could break and rejoin.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
In synapsis, the genes on the chromatids of the homologous chromosomes are aligned precisely with each other.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Possibly his experience with the bounty hunter Phil Resch had altered some minute synapsis in him, had closed one neurological switch and opened another.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
