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mitotically

mitotically

1 8.5
In a way that cells divide to make more cells
  • adverb
  • /maɪˈtɑtɪkli/
  • Specialized
: mitóticamente
  • During the cancer treatment, doctors noted how the tumor was mitotically dividing more rapidly than normal cells.

Examples

  • In studying plant growth, the scientist measured how the roots grew mitotically in response to nutrient availability.

  • Microscopically (Figures 2 and 3), the dermal lesion was a highly cellular and mitotically active malignant tumor composed of undifferentiated small round blue cells.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The cells divided mitotically during the laboratory experiment, allowing researchers to observe the process closely.

Surface Forms

mitotically positive

Morphology

mitotically = mitotic (transparent) = mitotic + ally

Standard adverbial formation from the adjective 'mitotic' by adding the productive adverbial suffix '-ally', yielding a predictable meaning 'in a mitotic manner'.

Etymology

Mitotically comes from mitosis, which comes from the Greek mitos meaning 'thread' because, when a cell divides, the parts that carry genes look like thin threads. So, something happening mitotically is happening by cells dividing in that thread-like way.