SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Medical Dictionary

karyopyknosis

play

noun kar·yo·pyk·no·sis \ˌkar-ē-(ˌ)ō-pik-ˈnō-səs\

Medical Definition of karyopyknosis

: shrinkage of the cell nuclei of epithelial cells (as of the vagina) with breakup of the chromatin into unstructured granules

karyopyknotic

\-ˈnät-ik\play adjective

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up karyopyknosis? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

WORD OF THE DAY

inhere

play

to be a fixed element or attribute

Words at Play

alt-597a00ef4b9d7

'Motif' vs 'Leitmotif'

A pattern emerges.

alt-5978b44edfb13

Our (Almost) Final Word on 'Penultimate'

The ultimate guide to using penultimate.

alt-5978cb55e8ba5

The Grammatical History of 'Awaken'/'Awoken'/'Awakened'

Or you can just go back to bed.

alt-59775cb5d7779

Words We're Watching: 'Aquafaba'

Don't dump out the bean water just yet...

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066

Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless

Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals

Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

alt-597a99e699d07

July 2017 Words of the Day Quiz

Test your knowledge.

Take the quiz

The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz

Name That Thing

Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

Take the quiz

Word Winder's CrossWinder

Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game