pachytene
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pachytene /ˈpakɪtiːn/
▶noun Biology the third stage of the prophase of meiosis, following zygotene, during which the paired chromosomes shorten and thicken, the two chromatids of each separate, and exchange of segments between chromatids may occur.
– origin early 20th cent.: from Gk pakhus ‘thick’ + tainia ‘band’.
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