fission : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: fission	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for fission
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
fission n reproduction of some unicellular organisms by division of the cell into two more or less equal parts a nuclear reaction in which a massive nucleus splits into smaller nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy Synonym(s): fission, nuclear fission
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fission \Fis"sion\, n. [L. fissio. See {Fissure}.] 1. A cleaving, splitting, or breaking up into parts. 2. (Biol.) A method of asexual reproduction among the lowest (unicellular) organisms by means of a process of self-division, consisting of gradual division or cleavage of the into two parts, each of which then becomes a separate and independent organisms; as when a cell in an animal or plant, or its germ, undergoes a spontaneous division, and the parts again subdivide. See {Segmentation}, and {Cell division}, under {Division}. 3. (Zo[94]l.) A process by which certain coral polyps, echinoderms, annelids, etc., spontaneously subdivide, each individual thus forming two or more new ones. See {Strobilation}.