metamorphic

Etymology

It is formed from English metamorphosis + -ic.^[2][3][4][5] The revised OED analyses it instead as meta- plus -morphic, modelled on the noun,^[6] and the Oxford Dictionary of English and the Shorter Oxford likewise take it from the prefix and Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “form”), after the noun.^[7][8] The Greek elements are μετά (metá), here marking change, and the noun for form, a word of uncertain origin.^[2] The noun metamorphosis itself came through Latin metamorphōsis from Ancient Greek μεταμόρφωσις (metamórphōsis, “a transformation”), a word of the Hellenistic period.^[6][2] For the geological sense the OED compares French métamorphique (1825) and Italian metamorfico (1834).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Marked by or causing a change of form, structure or character: 1816, in G. S. Faber's Origin of Pagan Idolatry,^[6][3] a theological work, according to Etymonline.^[2] The Shorter Oxford dates the word to the early 19th century,^[8] and Dictionary.com to 1810–20.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word began as the adjective of metamorphosis in its general sense, a change of form.^[6][2] In 1833 the geologist Charles Lyell applied it to rocks whose structure has been changed by heat or pressure,^[6][2] and this geological sense, tied to the noun metamorphism (recorded from 1837 in Etymonline, 1845 in the OED), is now the main one.^[2][6][10] In zoology it was used from 1850 of the metamorphosis of insects and other animals.^[6] A physiological use meaning "metabolic" is recorded only in 1853 and is obsolete.^[6] From 1870 the word was also a noun, a metamorphic rock, usually in the plural.^[6]

Timeline

• 1816 – characterized by change of form or character.^[6][3][2]
• 1833 – in geology, of rocks changed by heat and pressure.^[6][2]
• 1850 – in zoology, relating to metamorphosis.^[6]
• 1853 – metabolic (rare, obsolete).^[6]
• 1870 – noun, a metamorphic rock.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to or resulting from metamorphosis: the metamorphic stages of a moth.^[10][3][6]
2. (geology) Of a rock: changed in structure and mineral content by heat and pressure, or relating to such change: Marble is a metamorphic rock formed from limestone.^[10][3][6]

Noun

1. (geology) A metamorphic rock, usually in the plural.^[6][8]

Word family

• metamorphically
• nonmetamorphic
• premetamorphic

Related words

• metamorphism
• metamorphosis
• metamorphose

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins