μεταμόρφωσις

Forms

μετᾰμόρφωσῐς (metamórphōsis) f (genitive μετᾰμορφώσεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

From the verb from Ancient Greek μεταμορφόω (metamorphóō) + -σις (-sis), “to transform”, with the suffix of action nouns.^[1][2][3] The verb is made of μετά (metá), here expressing change, and μορφή (morphḗ), “shape, form”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use is in Strabo, in the plural, of transformations.^[5][6] It is a word of the Roman period: almost all its occurrences are from the 1st century AD on, most in the 2nd century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word belonged above all to myth: Lucian speaks of the mythical transformations a dancer must know, and the 2nd-century mythographer Antoninus Liberalis called his collection of such stories a “Collection of Metamorphoses”.^[5][7] The New Pauly distinguishes the passing disguises of gods and magicians from the lasting change of people into animals, plants or stones, metamorphosis in the strict sense.^[8] Porphyry uses it of the soul that comes to dwell in plants by transformation.^[5]

In Christian Greek the gospel scene in which Jesus “was transfigured” (the passive of μεταμορφόω) gave the noun the sense of the Transfiguration and its feast on 6 August.^[9][7][10] Latin borrowed the word as Latin metamorphosis and translated it with transformatio.^[11][1] Medieval vernacular Greek used it for a change of form and so for an appearance,^[12] and Modern Greek μεταμόρφωση (metamórfosi) is a learned continuation, for any deep change, the Transfiguration, and in geology the metamorphism of rocks.^[13][7] English metamorphosis came from Latin in the 1530s.^[4]

Timeline

• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Strabo uses it in the plural of transformations.^[5][14]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian writes of the mythical transformations, and Antoninus Liberalis titles a collection of them with the word.^[5][14]
• 3rd century AD – Porphyry uses it of a soul's passing into plants.^[5][14]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for a change of form or an appearance.^[12]
• 1530s – English borrows the Latin form as metamorphosis.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A transformation, a change of form.^[5][3]
2. (mythology) The transformation of a person or god into another shape; in the plural, stories of such changes.^[5][8]
3. (Christianity) The Transfiguration of Christ.^[10][7]

Related words

• μορφή (morphḗ)
• Latin metamorphosis
• English metamorphosis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ a b Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
10. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
11. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
12. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge