† Metusiastn.

Etymology: < post-classical Latin Metusiasta (16th cent. with reference to Eucharistic doctrine) < ancient Greek μετουσία participation ( < μετα- meta- prefix + οὐσία substance, essence: see essence n.) + post-classical Latin -asta ( < ancient Greek -αστής , forming agent nouns to verbal stems in -αζ- ), perhaps after synusiasta Synusiast n. Compare Byzantine Greek μετουσίωσις change of substance, transubstantiation.Post-classical Latin Metusiasta appears to have been used with a somewhat different sense than that of the English word, perhaps ‘a believer in the participation of the substance of the bread and wine of the Eucharist in the Divine substance’.