metamorphosis

met·a·mor·pho·sis   (mět'ə-môr'fə-sĭs)    (click for larger image in new window) 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.]

Metamorphosis

Met`a*mor"pho*sis\, n.; pl. Metamorphoses. [L., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to be transformed; ? beyond, over + ? form.]

1. Change of form, or structure; transformation.

2. (Biol.) A change in the form or function of a living organism, by a natural process of growth or development; as, the metamorphosis of the yolk into the embryo, of a tadpole into a frog, or of a bud into a blossom. Especially, that form of sexual reproduction in which an embryo undergoes a series of marked changes of external form, as the chrysalis stage, pupa stage, etc., in insects. In these intermediate stages sexual reproduction is usually impossible, but they ultimately pass into final and sexually developed forms, from the union of which organisms are produced which pass through the same cycle of changes. See Transformation.

3. (Physiol.) The change of material of one kind into another through the agency of the living organism; metabolism.

Vegetable metamorphosis (Bot.), the doctrine that flowers are homologous with leaf buds, and that the floral organs are transformed leaves.

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.

metamorphosis 

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 abruptdevelopmental change in the form or structure of an animal (as a butterfly or a frog) occurring subsequent to birth or hatching

metamorphosis met·a·mor·pho·sis (mět'ə-môr'fə-sĭs)
n. pl. met·a·mor·pho·ses (-sēz')

1. A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function. Also called transformation.
2. 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.
3. A usually degenerative pathological change in the structure of a particular body tissue.

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met'a·mor·phot'ic (-môr-fŏt'ĭk) adj.

metamorphosis   (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.