Dictionary

transmutation en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /tɹanzmjuːˈteɪʃn̩/ (UK)

Etymology

Late 14th century, from Old French transmutacion (“transformation, metamorphosis”), from Late Latin transmutationem, from Latin transmutare (“to change”).

Meanings

1. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Change, alteration.
2. (countable, uncountable) The conversion of one thing into something else; transformation.
   • Up I rose and forth I fared: / Took my plunge within the bath-pool, pacified the watch-dog scared, / Saw proceed the transmutation—Jura's black to one gold glow, […] 1877 September 14, Robert Browning, “La Saisiaz”, in La Saisiaz: The Two Poets of Croisic, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], published 1878, →OCLC, pages 15–16:
3. (countable, uncountable) The conversion of one thing into something else; transformation. ▸ The supposed transformation of one element into another, especially of a base metal into gold.
   • The transmutation of metals was secondary to the main aim, which was the spiritual transformation of the adept. 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 261:
4. (countable, qualifier:nuclear physics, uncountable) The conversion of one thing into something else; transformation. ▸ The actual transformation of one element into another by a nuclear reaction.
   • Years later, scientists learned that the sun’s light—visible and invisible—is merely the by-product of a process alchemists had vainly tried to reproduce for centuries—the transmutation of one element into another. That nature accomplishes this before our very eyes, and that it is what creates the solar heat and light that supports all life, was suspected by no one. The revelation came as a complete surprise. 2017, Bob Berman, Zapped: From Infrared to X-rays, the Curious History of Invisible Light, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 73:

Forms

Deriveds

transmutationist · transmutationism · transmutational

Relateds

nucleosynthesis · nuclear fission · nuclear fusion

Synonyms

metamorphosis · conversion · metamorphosis · development · development · transmogrification · development · transfiguration · conversion · transfiguration · transfiguration · transmutation · sea change · deviation · permutation · permutation · metamorphosis · transfiguration · metamorphosis · metamorphosis · development · metamorphosis · transmutation · transfigurement · transition · sea change · transfigurement · mutation · change · transfiguration · mutation · transformation · transformation · transmogrification · transfiguration · transformation · sea change · transformation · development · development · variation · transfiguration · transmutation · modification · conversion · transfiguration · transmutation · alteration · transmogrification · transfigurement

Translations (12)

mr मूलद्रव्यांतरण (the transformation of one element into another) · hi तत्वांतरण (the actual transformation of one element into another by a nuclear reaction) · mr मूलपरिवर्तन (the actual transformation of one element into another by a nuclear reaction) · hi तत्वांतरण (the transformation of one element into another) · ka გარდაქმნა (the transformation of one element into another) · pt transmutação (the transformation of one element into another) · cmn 嬗變 /嬗变 (the actual transformation of one element into another by a nuclear reaction) · ja 変成 (the transformation of one element into another) · fa استحاله (the transformation of one element into another) · pl transmutacja (the actual transformation of one element into another by a nuclear reaction) · pl transmutacja (the transformation of one element into another) · ja 変成 (the actual transformation of one element into another by a nuclear reaction)