Etymologically
Log in

transmuto

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word transmuto

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
96–55 BC Lucretius More words from the 1st century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin mūtō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin mūtō
Romanian muta
Spanish mudar
Latin trānsmūtō
From the same root
Latin commūtō ← mūtō
Latin immūtō ← mūtō
Latin mūtābilis ← mūtō
Latin mūtātiō ← mūtō
Latin mūtuus ← mūtō
Latin permūtō ← mūtō
Romanian mutare ← muta

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [trãːsˈmuː.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [tranzˈmuː.to][1]

Forms

trānsmūtō (present infinitive trānsmūtāre, perfect active trānsmūtāvī, supine trānsmūtātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin trāns- (“across”) + mūtō (“to change”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucretius is the first to use it (2.488), of particles that change places, right with left: transmutans dextera laevis.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the classical language it is rare and poetic.[3] Horace says that Fortune shifts her uncertain honours from one person to another,[3][4] and the medical writer Caelius Aurelianus uses it for moving the sick to another place.[3][5] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means simply to change or turn.[6]

English transmute was borrowed from the Latin in the late 14th century.[7]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of particles that exchange places.[3][8]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of Fortune shifting honours.[3][8]
  • late 14th century – English borrows it as transmute.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To change from one place or condition to another; to interchange.[2][3]
  2. (medicine) To move (patients) to another place.[3][5]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To change, turn.[6]

Word family

  • trānsmūtātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Transmuto.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/transmuto. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·