fission

(fish'-un) [L. fi io; findere, to cleave.] Division of a cell or its nucleus, bi'naiy f., simple f. in which the two new cells are approximately equal in size, mul'tiple f., sporulation, division of the nucleus, simultaneously or succe ively, into a number of daughter nuclei, followed by division of the cell-body into an equal number of parts, each containing a nucleus. sim'ple f., division of the nucleus and then the cell-body into two parts.