mitosis

A quick source for "etymology mitosis" gives a couple of sites that reveal that it comes from the Greek word for thread (mitos). In a microscope the strands look like threads.

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/mitosis?view=uk

Mitosis
/mitosiss/

1) Noun (pl. mitoses) Biology a type of cell division in which daughter cells have the same number and kind of chromosomes as the parent nucleus.
Compare with MEIOSIS.

ORIGIN from Greek mitos ?thread?.