metamorphosisn.

Etymology: < classical Latin metamorphōsis (only with reference to the work by Ovid; in post-classical Latin in sense 1a (5th cent.)) < Hellenistic Greek μεταμόρϕωσις < μετα- meta- prefix + μόρϕωσις morphosis n., after μεταμορϕοῦν to transform. Compare Middle French, French métamorphose (c1365 as a translation of the title of the work by Ovid; 1493 in Middle French in sense 1a; 1668 in sense 2; 1736 in sense 3a). Compare also Italian metamorfosi (1499), Spanish metamorfosis (c1620).The first Latin use is in the plural form Metamorphōsēs as the title of a poem by Ovid in the classical tradition of tales about transformations of gods or humans into the shapes of animals, plants, or inanimate objects. Subsequent uses in Latin, as well as the earliest uses in English, allude to or are strongly influenced by Ovid's poem. English forms of the title of the poem are numerous until the 16th cent., from which time only the standard singular and plural forms are used:c1390 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale B.93 Me were looth be likned..To Muses that men clepe Pierides; Methamorphosios [v.rr. Methamorphoseos, Metham orphaseos, Methanorphoseos, Methemore phees, Meche more phees] woot what I mene. ▸ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 389 In Metamor it telleth thus. ▸ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 6711 Ovide..in his Methamor..tolde A tale.c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. 1973 Þus seith Ovide..In his boke of transformacioun Methamorphoseos.1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. x. sig. Eij I wolde set nexte vnto hym two bokes of Ouid, the one called Metamorphosios, whiche is as moche to saye, as chaungynge of men in to other figure or fourme. Greek μεταμορϕοῦν has a wider application, and appears in the gospels with the sense ‘transfigure’ transfigure v. 1b; some examples of the use of metamorphosis and related words in post-classical Latin reflect this gospel use (compare metamorphist n. 1). N.E.D. (1906) gives only the pronunciation (metămǭ·ɹfŏsis) /mɛtəˈmɔːfəsɪs/. The alternative pronunciation with stress on the fourth syllable is apparently first mentioned as occurring in British usage by H. W. Fowler Mod. Eng. Usage (1926), who describes it as ‘more regular’ and as ‘still often heard’ (this impression of its former currency appears to be mistaken); it is recorded in the Shorter Oxf. Eng. Dict. (1933), and is also given in later editions of D. Jones Eng. Pronouncing Dict. The same stress is given, without an alternative, in W. A. N. Dorland Amer. Illustr. Med. Dict. (1900), but the absence of such a pronunciation from other medical dictionaries (American and otherwise) of similar date makes it doubtful that a stressed fourth syllable was a distinctive feature of medical usage.