mitosis

/maɪˈtəʊ.sɪs/

//maɪˈtəʊ.sɪs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"mitosis" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mitosis” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #46,071. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#46,071
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The division of a cell nucleus in which the genome is copied and separated into two identical halves. It is normally followed by cell division.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mitosis · mitosis · English

mitosis · rank #46,071 · 10 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #46,071
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH mirth

Nearest frequency peer: mirth (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “mitosis”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “mitosis” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

mitosis vs meiosis
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for mitosis
PropertyValue
Headwordmitosis
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/maɪˈtəʊ.sɪs/
Letters7
Frequency rank#46,071
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “mitosis”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).mitosislands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “mirth” (#46,070), “mnemonic” (#46,072), “minnow” (#46,069). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mitosis” is #46,071. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around mitosis (IPA /maɪˈtəʊ.sɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #46,071 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The division of a cell nucleus in which the genome is copied and separated into two identical halves. It is normally followed by cell division.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for mitosis, with forms such as "imtosis", "miotsis", and "mitoiss". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "meiosis", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From German Mitose, from Ancient Greek μίτος (mítos, “thread”) + -osis, probably in reference to the thread-like chromatin seen during mitosis. The correct English form is mitosis, spelled M-I-T-O-S-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The division of a cell nucleus in which the genome is copied and separated into two identical halves. It is normally followed by cell division.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how mitosis appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Meronyms: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase

Etymology

From German Mitose, from Ancient Greek μίτος (mítos, “thread”) + -osis, probably in reference to the thread-like chromatin seen during mitosis.

This word in other languages

mitosis(Español)mitose(Français)Mitose(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • imtosis
  • miotsis
  • mitoiss
  • mitosiss
  • mitossi
  • mitossis
  • mitsois
  • mittosis
  • mmitosis
  • mtiosis

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mitosis - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

imtosis2miotsis2mitoiss2mitosiss1mitossi2mitossis1mitsois2mittosis1
Edit distance from "mitosis"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mitosis"?
"mitosis" is spelled M-I-T-O-S-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is /maɪˈtəʊ.sɪs/.
What does "mitosis" mean?
As a noun, "mitosis" means: The division of a cell nucleus in which the genome is copied and separated into two identical halves. It is normally followed by cell division.
What words are commonly confused with "mitosis"?
"mitosis" is commonly confused with "meiosis". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mitosis"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mitosis" is /maɪˈtəʊ.sɪs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "mitosis"?
From German Mitose, from Ancient Greek μίτος (mítos, “thread”) + -osis, probably in reference to the thread-like chromatin seen during mitosis. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mitosis", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Metzger#46,062maulana#46,053Ogilvie#46,094Passaic#46,101

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

plucky10 variantsLacroix10 variantsKilgore10 variantsQureshi10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list