Definition of Metamorphosis

1. Noun. The marked and rapid transformation of a larva into an adult that occurs in some animals.


2. Noun. A striking change in appearance or character or circumstances. "The metamorphosis of the old house into something new and exciting"
Exact synonyms: Transfiguration
Generic synonyms: Alteration, Revision
Derivative terms: Transfigure

3. Noun. A complete change of physical form or substance especially as by magic or witchcraft.
Generic synonyms: Transformation, Translation
Derivative terms: Metamorphous, Metamorphous

Definition of Metamorphosis

1. n. Change of form, or structure; transformation.

Definition of Metamorphosis

1. Noun. A transformation, such as that of magic or by sorcery ¹

2. Noun. A noticeable change in character, appearance, function or condition. ¹

3. Noun. (biology) A change in the form and often habits of an animal after the embryonic stage during normal development. (e.g. the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly or a tadpole into a frog.) ¹

4. Noun. (pathology) A change in the structure of a specific body tissue. Usually degenerative. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Metamorphosis

1. [n -PHOSES]

Medical Definition of Metamorphosis

1. Change of body form, for example in the development of the adult frog from the tadpole or the butterfly from the caterpillar. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Metamorphosis

metamorphist
metamorphists
metamorphization
metamorphize
metamorphized
metamorphizes
metamorphizing
metamorphopsia
metamorphose
metamorphosed
metamorphoser
metamorphosers
metamorphoses
metamorphosic
metamorphosing
metamorphosis (current term)
metamorphosise
metamorphosised
metamorphosises
metamorphosising
metamorphosize
metamorphosized
metamorphosizes
metamorphosizing
metamorphotic
metamorphous
metamunirite
metamyelocyte
metanalyses
metanalysis

Literary usage of Metamorphosis

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: “a” Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature edited by Hugh Chisholm (1911)
"This is the first metamorphosis. After a certain period of free life the Cypris larva Attaches itself by its anterior antennae to some foreign object and ..."

2. An Introduction to Entomology by John Henry Comstock (1920)
"For this reason the terms incomplete metamorphosis and hemi- ... Both incomplete metamorphosis and complete metamorphosis are characterized by the fact that ..."

3. The Medical and Surgical Reporter (1890)
"FATTY metamorphosis OF HEART. In the 300 cases of Bright's disease tabulated in this paper fatty metamorphosis of the heart was found to be present in only ..."

4. The Journal of General Physiology by Society of General Physiologists, Rockefeller Institute, Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (1920)
"QUANTITATIVE EXPERIMENTS ON IODINE FEEDING AND metamorphosis . BY WW SWINGLE. (From the Department of Biology, Princeton University, Princeton. ..."

5. Report of the Annual Meeting (1862)
"metamorphosis then became arrested, and existence terminated. ... Here further metamorphosis became arrested, and life ceased. In the third, emersion was ..."

6. Text-book of the Embryology of Invertebrates by Eugen Korschelt, Karl Heider, Edward Laurens Mark, William McMichael Woodworth, Matilda Bernard, Martin Fountain Woodward (1899)
"All other Insects, on the contrary, pass through a true metamorphosis. ... metamorphosis thus here takes the form of onward growth within the limits of the ..."

7. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science edited by Biologists Limited, The Company of. (1881)
"The ORIGIN and SIGNIFICANCE of the metamorphosis of ... In many cases of metamorphosis the phenomena of growth are so complex that it is extremely difficult ..."

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