Word of the Day Archive
Friday November 23, 2001
transmute \trans-MYOOT; tranz-\ , transitive verb:
1. To change from one nature, form, substance, or state into another; to transform.
intransitive verb:
1. To undergo transmutation.
It now seems as if she no longer had the strength or will to transmute life into art.
-- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "Changes Not for the Better", New York Times, February 28, 1974
Sand that once was rock becomes rock once again as it slowly sediments and compresses into layers of sandstone, which, in turn, transmute into sand.
-- Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker, The Beach: The History of Paradise on Earth
Transmute is from Latin transmutare, "to change utterly," from trans-, "across" + mutare, "to change."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for transmute
