11 results for: Metamorphosis

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

met·a·mor·pho·sis

Audio Help [met-uh-mawr-fuh-sis] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -ses

1.	Biology. a profound change in form from one stage to the next in the life history of an organism, as from the caterpillar to the pupa and from the pupa to the adult butterfly. Compare complete metamorphosis.

2.	a complete change of form, structure, or substance, as transformation by magic or witchcraft.

3.	any complete change in appearance, character, circumstances, etc.

4.	a form resulting from any such change.

Pathology.

a.	a type of alteration or degeneration in which tissues are changed: fatty metamorphosis of the liver.

b.	the resultant form.

6.	Botany. the structural or functional modification of a plant organ or structure during its development.

[Origin: 1525–35; < NL metamorphōsis < Gk metamórphōsis transformation. See meta-, -morph, -osis

]

—Synonyms 2. mutation, transmutation.

—Antonyms 1, 2. stasis.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Metamorphosis

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

met·a·mor·pho·sis Audio Help (mět'ə-môr'fə-sĭs) Pronunciation Key

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n. pl. met·a·mor·pho·ses (-sēz')

A transformation, as by magic or sorcery.
A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function.
Biology A change in the form and often habits of an animal during normal development after the embryonic stage. Metamorphosis includes, in insects, the transformation of a maggot into an adult fly and a caterpillar into a butterfly and, in amphibians, the changing of a tadpole into a frog.
Pathology A usually degenerative change in the structure of a particular body tissue.

[Latin metamorphōsis, from Greek, from metamorphoun, to transform : meta-, meta- + morphē, form.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
metamorphosis

1533, "change of form or shape, especially by witchcraft," from L., from Gk. metamorphosis "a transforming," from metamorphoun "to transform," from meta- "change" (see meta-) + morphe "form" (see morphine). Metamorphic, in geological sense, is first attested 1833, in Lyell; rocks whose form has been changed by heat or pressure.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

metamorphosis
noun
1.	the marked and rapid transformation of a larva into an adult that occurs in some animals
2.	a striking change in appearance or character or circumstances; "the metamorphosis of the old house into something new and exciting" [syn: transfiguration]
3.	a complete change of physical form or substance especially as by magic or witchcraft

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
metamorphosis [metəˈmoːfəsis] noun — plural ˌmetaˈmorphoses [-siːz]

(a) marked change of form, appearance, character etc
Example: a caterpillar's metamorphosis into a butterfly

Arabic:	تَحَوُّل، مَسْخ
Chinese (Simplified):	变态, 变形
Chinese (Traditional):	變態, 變形
Czech:	proměna
Danish:	forvandling
Dutch:	gedaanteverwisseling
Estonian:	moondumine
Finnish:	muodonmuutos
French:	métamorphose
German:	die Metamorphose
Greek:	μεταμόρφωση
Hungarian:	metamorfózis
Icelandic:	umbreyting; hamskipti
Indonesian:	metamorfosis
Italian:	metamorfosi

Japanese:	変態
Latvian:	metamorfoze
Lithuanian:	metamorfozė
Norwegian:	forvandling, metamorfose
Polish:	metamorfoza
Portuguese (Brazil):	metamorfose
Portuguese (Portugal):	metamorfose
Romanian:	metamorfoză
Russian:	метаморфоза
Slovak:	premena
Slovenian:	preobrazba
Spanish:	metamorfosis
Swedish:	metamorfos, förvandling
Turkish:	metamorfoz, başkalaşım

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

metamorphosis Audio Help (mět'ə-môr'fə-sĭs) Pronunciation Key
Dramatic change in the form and often the habits of an animal during its development after birth or hatching. The transformation of a maggot into an adult fly and of a tadpole into an adult frog are examples of metamorphosis. The young of such animals are called larvae.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
metamorphosis [(met-uh-mawr-fuh-sis)]

A change in an animal as it grows, particularly a radical change, such as the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

[Chapter:] Life Sciences

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

met·a·mor·pho·sis (mt-môrf-ss)
n. pl. met·a·mor·pho·ses (-sz)

A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function. Also called transformation.
A change in the form and often habits of an animal during normal development after the embryonic stage. Metamorphosis includes, in insects, the transformation of a maggot into an adult fly and a caterpillar into a butterfly and, in amphibians, the changing of a tadpole into a frog.
A usually degenerative pathological change in the structure of a particular body tissue.

meta·mor·photic (-môr-f

k) adj.

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry: meta·mor·pho·sis
Pronunciation: "met-&-'mor-f&-s&s
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural meta·mor·pho·ses /-"sEz/
1 : change of physical form, structure, or substance
2 : a marked and more or less abrupt developmental change in the form or structure of an animal (as a butterfly or a frog) occurring subsequent to birth or hatching

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Metamorphosis

Met`a*mor"phic\, a. [See Metamorphosis.]

1. Subject to change; changeable; variable.

2. Causing a change of structure.

3. (Geol.) Pertaining to, produced by, or exhibiting, certain changes which minerals or rocks may have undergone since their original deposition; -- especially applied to the recrystallization which sedimentary rocks have undergone through the influence of heat and pressure, after which they are called metamorphic rocks.

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