transmutationn.
/trɑːnzmjuːˈteɪʃən/, /tranzmjuːˈteɪʃən/, /trɑːnsmjuːˈteɪʃən/, /transmjuːˈteɪʃən/, U.S. /ˌtrænzmjuˈteɪʃən/, /ˌtræn(t)smjuˈteɪʃən/ The action or process of transmuting or changing; the fact or condition of being transmuted or changed.
1. Change of condition; mutation; sometimes implying alternation or exchange. Obsolete or archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > [noun]
wendingeOE
changing?c1225
stirringa1240
wrixlinga1240
changec1325
variancec1340
transmutationc1380
varyingc1380
whileness1382
translationc1384
alterationa1398
mutationa1398
removinga1425
revolutiona1425
shiftingc1440
changementc1450
muance1480
commutation1509
altry1527
transition1545
turning1548
novation1549
immutation?c1550
alterance1559
alienation1562
turn?1567
vicissitude1603
refraction1614
fermentationa1661
diabasis1672
parallax1677
motion1678
aliation1775
transience1946
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 297 Þus seiþ James, þat at God is not transmutacioun.
c1384 G. Chaucer Hous of Fame iii. 879 Of dyvers transmutacions Of estates and eke of Regions.
?c1425 (c1390) G. Chaucer Fortune 1 This wrecched worldes transmutacioun As wele and [v.r. or] woo, nowe poure and nowe honour.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 107 In lengthe of tyme ful greet transmutacioun and chaunge is alwey maad in and aboute the circumstauncis of politik gouernauncis.
c1450 Mankind iii. 903 in Macro Plays 34 Thynke and remembyr, þe world ys but a wanite, as yt ys prowyd daly by d[i]uerse transmutacyon.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 169/2 Busy you to purchase that palace that euer shal endure in ioy without transmutation.
1851 H. W. Longfellow Golden Legend iii. 122 The constant change and transmutation Of action and of contemplation.
2. Change of one thing into another; conversion into something different; alteration, transformation. Also with a and plural, a case or instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > [noun]
overchangingc1384
transmutation1398
permutationa1425
transforming1435
resolutiona1450
translating1503
resolvinga1513
conversion1549
transposing1550
conversationa1570
transmuting1579
projection?1583
transmigration1618
version1626
transversion1656
transmogrification1661
converting1711
metamorphosing1730
metastasis1818
turn-over1825
interconversion1865
transnaturation1873
transmorphism1888
segue1945
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum xix. l. (xxxiii. in Bodl. MS. lf. 302 b/2) Þere may not be passinge transmutacion and chaunginge for þere is defaute of hete & of humoure.
1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy i. 58 That a sodeyn transmutacioun Was made of amptis to forme of men anon.
1545 T. Raynald in tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde i. sig. F.vi When that nature is dysposed to make a transmutation of any matter.
1594 H. Plat Jewell House 65 Alterations, transmutations, & sometimes euen real transubstantiations of white wine into Claret.
1692 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. iv. 34 The supposed change of Worms into Flies is no real transmutation.
1725 D. Cotes tr. L. E. Du Pin New Eccl. Hist. 17th Cent. I. vi. iii. 237 He [Calvin] attacks Transubstantiation. He acknowledges that some of the Ancients made use of the Term Transmutation.
1782 J. Priestley Hist. Corruptions Christianity II. vi. 7 It is too early..for..the transmutation of the bread and wine.
1879 tr. A. de Quatrefages de Bréau Human Species 9 Here..is no transmutation of force similar to that in a machine worked by electricity or heat.
1896 Duke of Argyll Philos. Belief 69 The inconceivable power of transmutation exerted by that which we call life.
3. spec.† c. Rhetoric. Transferred use of a word; metonymy. Obsolete. rare.† d. = transmigration n. 4. Obsolete. rare.† e. Heraldry. = counterchanging n. Cf. transmuted adj. b. Obsolete.
a. Alchemy. The (supposed or alleged) conversion of one element or substance into another, esp. of a baser metal into gold or silver. Also allusively. Hence in Physics, the (actual) change of one element into another, esp. by irradiation or bombardment (as opposed to spontaneous decay). Cf. transformation n. 3g.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > alchemy > alchemical processes > [noun] > transmutation
multiplyingc1395
maturing?a1425
transmutation1478
projectiona1550
curtation1584
longation1584
tincting1599
maturation1617
the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactivity > change of one element into another > [noun]
transmutation1897
transformation1902
1478 Coventry Leet Bk. 422 To practise a true and a profitable conclusion in the Cunnying of transmutacion of metails.
1605 T. Tymme tr. J. Du Chesne Pract. Chymicall & Hermeticall Physicke iii. 183 Alchymie..ordereth and finisheth the transmutations of things.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 63. ⁋7 Not one appears to have desisted from the task of transmutation, from the conviction of its impossibility.
1812 H. Davy Elements Chem. Philos. 11 The processes supposed to relate to the transmutation of metals, and the elixir of life.
1872 J. Yeats Techn. Hist. Commerce 413 Alchemy, or the transmutation of metals, was virtually the parent of the modern science of chemistry.
1897 Electrician 10 Dec. 214/1 Theoretically, if the modern doctrine as to the ultimate constitution of matter be accepted, the transmutation of the elements is a scientific possibility. The fierce atomic bombardments inside a Crookes tube or an electric furnace would seem the most probable of known conditions whereby the operation might be carried on.
1915 K. Tornberg tr. E. Rasch Electr. Arc Phenomena viii. 184 Since the electrons are ultra-atomic..the electric arc provides a means for the splitting up of matter, which perhaps makes the synthesis or transmutation of chemical elements not entirely beyond possibility.
1926 R. W. Lawson tr. G. von Hevesy & F. A. Paneth Man. Radioactivity xxi. 147 Up to the present we only know of one method that permits us to resolve the nuclei of the atoms artificially, and thus to achieve..the transmutation of the elements.
1969 G. M. Bennison & A. E. Wright Geol. Hist. Brit. Isles i. 5 The rate of ‘decay’ or transmutation of radioactive minerals.
1974 Physics Bull. Dec. 585/2 The process of transmutation (‘neutron burning’), as applied for several years now to radioactive waste, where certain isotopes are transmuted to isotopes with shorter half lives or even to stable ones.
b. Law. Transfer: usually transmutation of possession, transfer or change of ownership.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > transfer of property > [noun] > transfer of ownership
transmutation of possession1488
1488–9 Act 4 Hen. VII c. 4 An Acte for the passing and transmutacion of landes without Fyne.
1488–9 Act 4 Hen. VII c. 4 Such persones..shall nowe lawfully make therof fieoffmentes and transmutacion of possession by dede or dedis..without eny fyne for the said feoffement or transmutacion of possession.
1602 W. Fulbecke Parallele or Conf. Law i. 33 He held that in euery exchaunge there must be a mutuall transmutation of the possession.
1804 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. IV. 205.
1875 K. E. Digby Introd. Hist. Law Real Prop. vi. 252 In these cases uses are said to be created by..transmutation of possession; that is, they accompany one of the recognised modes of conveying the seisin at common law—feoffment, fine, or recovery.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > figures of meaning > [noun] > metonymy
metonymy1553
transmutation1553
transnomination1561
cross-naming1589
misnamer1589
metonym1622
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 93 Transmutacion helpeth much for varietie, the whiche is when a woorde hath a proper signification of the owne, and beyng referred to an other thyng, hath an other meanyng.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > soul > transmigration > [noun]
transanimation1574
metempsychosisa1593
transmigration1594
transmutation1594
metempsychose?1608
commigration1613
metensomatosis1630
transincorporation1810
1594 R. Ashley tr. L. le Roy Interchangeable Course v. f. 68v The transmutation of soules from bodie to bodie.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > heraldic tincture > [noun] > reversal of tinctures
counterchanging1586
countercolouring1586
transmutation1610
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie v. ii. 242 Counter-changing or Transmutation is an Entermixture of seuerall Metals or Colours, both in Field and Charge, occasioned by the apposition of some one or moe lines of partition.
f. Biology. Conversion or transformation of one species into another; spec. applied to the form of evolution or development propounded by Lamarck (1815–22). Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > evolution > [noun] > processes or types of evolution
transmutation1626
substitution1822
subspeciation1826
metamorphosis1835
phytogenesis1847
phytogeny1850
anamorphosis1852
correlation1859
advergence1861
convergence1861
phylogeny1869
ontogeny1872
recapitulation1874
ontogenesis1875
phylogenesis1875
biogenesis1876
abiogenesis1884
anagenesis1889
tachygenesis1893
orthogenesis1895
adaptive radiation1898
speciation1906
microevolution1911
subspeciation1921
raciation1934
orthogenetics1937
encephalization1938
proterogenesis1938
allomorphosis1941
cladogenesis1953
Wallace effect1966
metachromism1968
punctuation1976
speciational evolution1988
tachygen-
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §525 The Transmutation of Plants, one into another, is inter Magnalia Naturæ: for the Transmutation of Species is, in the vulgar philosophy, pronounced Impossible:..but seeing there appear some manifest Instances of it, the Opinion of Impossibilitie is to bee rejected.
1692 J. Ray Wisdom of God (ed. 2) ii. 91 The most that can be inferred from hence is, a transmutation of Species.
1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature ix. 194 Transmutation of one species into another.
1859 D. Page Handbk. Geol. Terms 357 Transmutation,..a term adopted by Lamarck and his followers to express their hypothetical views of the derivation of existing species from preceding species, by slow and gradual Transmutations of one form of organisation into another form.
1863 C. Lyell Geol. Evid. Antiq. Man i. 3 Recent modifications of the Lamarckian theory of progressive development and transmutation.
1879 tr. A. de Quatrefages de Bréau Human Species 90 Their ideas may be arranged in two principal groups according as their authors favour a rapid or a gradual transmutation.
g. Mathematics. †(a) = permutation n. 3b (obsolete). (b) = transformation n. 3c (rare or obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > transformation > [noun] > correspondence > preserving relations or elements > changing order
permutation1645
transposition1664
alternation1685
transmutationa1690
variation1710
commutation1852
substitution1854
logical shift1946
the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > transformation > [noun]
transformation1571
transmutation1743
a1690 S. Jeake Λογιστικηλογία (1696) 576 Transmutation..serveth to show what Number of Changes may be made by any Number of..things in their Places or Positions.
1743 W. Emerson Doctr. Fluxions i. 53 The 21st and all the following Forms relate to the Transmutation of Fluxions.
Compounds
C1. attributive, as transmutation doctrine, transmutation theory.
ΚΠ
1860 T. H. Huxley Lay Serm. (1870) xii. 306 The so-called ‘transmutation’ hypothesis considers that all existing species are the result of the modification of pre-existing species, and those of their predecessors, by agencies similar to those which at the present day produce varieties and races.
1876 E. R. Lankester tr. E. Haeckel Hist. Creation I. i. 4 The theory which, through Darwin, has been placed at the head of all our knowledge of nature, is usually called the Doctrine of Filiation, or the Theory of Descent. Others term it the Transmutation Theory.
C2.
transmutation glaze n. trade name of a porcelain glaze having a changeable iridescent lustre.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > painting or coating materials > [noun] > glaze > for ceramics or pottery > types of
steel lustre1829
moonlight lustre1837
stone-oil1838
silver lustre1845
porcelain enamel1852
marzacotto1873
overglaze1880
under-glaze1882
coperta1885
tiger's-eye1893
tin-glaze1897
hare's fur1899
lead-glaze1899
tin-enamel1900
rouge flambé1902
Sunderland lustre1903
transmutation glaze1904
Mohammedan blue1905
peach bloom1937
sang-de-bœuf1957
lead-lustre-
1904 E. Dillon Porcelain 42 In the case of the flambé or ‘transmutation’ glazes, the strange caprices of colour have their origin, in part at least, in the contrast of the red sub-oxide and the green silicate of copper.
Derivatives
transmuˈtational adj. of or pertaining to transmutation, esp. in sense 3f.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > evolution > [adjective] > processes or types of evolution
high?1548
recapitulative1836
retrogressive1853
transmutational1861
ontogenetic1869
convergent1871
phylogenetic1876
correlative1877
ontogenic1878
phylogenetical1879
phytogenetic1882
monotypic1888
phytogenetical1888
polytypic1888
ontogenal1890
phylogenal1890
recapitulatory1890
tachygenetic1893
ontogenetical1894
anagenetic1896
orthogenic1896
orthogenetic1899
macroevolutionary1937
microevolutionary1937
proterogenetic1938
speciational1944
parapatric1953
cladogenetic1957
allochronic1960
stasigenetic1965
stasipatric1967
speciating1970
punctuational1976
tachygenic-
1861 G. Wilson & A. Geikie Mem. E. Forbes ii. 41 I can find no room, however, for transmutational ingenuity in writing of Edward Forbes.
1907 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 31 The crude transmutational theory.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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