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Definition

noun, singular: chromatid

The two strands joined together by a single centromere, formed from the duplication of the chromosome during the early stages of cell division and then separate to become individual chromosomes during the late stages of cell division.

Supplement

The term chromatid was proposed by Clarence Erwin McClung (1900) for each of the four threads making up a chromosome-pair during meiosis. It was later used also for mitosis.

Chromatids may be sister or non-sister chromatids.

When chromatids separate and move toward opposite poles of the cell, they are now referred to as daughter chromosomes.

Word origin: Greek khrōma, khrōmat-, color.

Related terms: sister chromatids, non-sister chromatid.

Compare: homologous chromosomes.
See also: centromere, meiosis, mitosis.