fission

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun reproduction of some unicellular organisms by division of the cell into two more or less equal parts
noun a nuclear reaction in which a massive nucleus splits into smaller nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy

Borrowed from Latin fissiōnem, accusative singular of fissiō (“the act of breaking up”), from findō (“split, divide”).

On land the great reptiles proved highly tractable; but the Shoggoths of the sea, reproducing by fission and acquiring a dangerous degree of accidental intelligence, presented for a time a formidable problem. — At the mountains of madness, H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft
I'll explain the operative details shortly, but if you were there, that could be a little like reviewing the theory underlying nuclear fission for somebody standing at ground zero when the bomb hit. — The Samurai Strategy, Thomas Hoover
After many million years of molecular agony, when his season of fission had come, he will rend huge fragments from his mass and hurl them helpless into space, there to grow into his satellites. — The Crack of Doom, Robert Cromie

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