Maiosis was coined by J. B. Farmer and J. E. Moore in 1905: "We propose to apply the terms Maiosis or Maiotic phase to cover the whole series of nuclear changes included in the two divisions that were designated as Heterotype and Homotype by Flemming" (Farmer, J.B., & Moore, J.E. in Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. XLVIII: 489). Within a couple of years, the spelling of the word was changed to Meiosis to better reflect its Greek meaning of "a reduction" (as in a reduction in chromosome number), which is also what the rhetoricians were using it to mean (a reduction in importance). So while the word "mitosis" was actually coined, the word "meiosis" was simply borrowed from another usage.