A thickening or condensation; specifically, a condensation and reduction in size of the cell or its nucleus, usually associated with hyperchromatosis; nuclear p. is a stage of necrosis. [pykno- + G. -osis, condition]
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pyk·no·sis also pyc·no·sis pik-'nō-səs n, pl pyk·no·ses also pyc·no·ses -.sēz a degenerative condition of a cell nucleus marked by clumping of the chromosomes, hyperchromatism, and shrinking of the nucleus
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n.
the process in which the cell nucleus is thickened into a dense mass, which occurs when cells die.
• pyknotic adj.
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pyk·no·sis (pik-noґsis) [Gr. pyknōsis condensation] a thickening, especially degeneration of a cell in which the nucleus shrinks in size and the chromatin condenses to a solid, structureless, basophilic mass or masses.Medical dictionary. 2011.