PYKNOSIS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pyknosis mean? 

• PYKNOSIS (noun)
  The noun PYKNOSIS has 1 sense:

1. a degenerative state of the cell nucleus

  Familiarity information: PYKNOSIS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PYKNOSIS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A degenerative state of the cell nucleus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

pycnosis; pyknosis

Hypernyms ("pyknosis" is a kind of...):

disease (an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning)

Derivation:

pyknotic (of or relating to or exhibiting pyknosis)

 Context examples 

A form of programmed cell death that begins when a cell receives internal or external signals, then proceeds through a series of characteristic stages typically including rounding-up of the cell, retraction of pseudopods, reduction of cellular volume (pyknosis), chromatin condensation, nuclear fragmentation (karyorrhexis), and plasma membrane blebbing, and ends with the death of the cell.

(Apoptosis, NCI Thesaurus)