metamorphosis Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the marked and rapid transformation of a larva into an adult that occurs in some animals
    metabolism.
  2. noun a striking change in appearance or character or circumstances
    transfiguration.
    • the metamorphosis of the old house into something new and exciting
  3. noun a complete change of physical form or substance especially as by magic or witchcraft

WordNet

Met`a*mor"pho*sis noun
Etymology
L., fr. Gr. , fr. to be transformed; beyond, over + form.
Wordforms
plural Metamorphoses
Definitions
  1. Change of form, or structure; transformation.
  2. (Biol.) A change in the form or function of a living organism, by a natural process of growth or development; as, the metamorphosis of the yolk into the embryo, of a tadpole into a frog, or of a bud into a blossom. Especially, that form of sexual reproduction in which an embryo undergoes a series of marked changes of external form, as the chrysalis stage, pupa stage, etc., in insects. In these intermediate stages sexual reproduction is usually impossible, but they ultimately pass into final and sexually developed forms, from the union of which organisms are produced which pass through the same cycle of changes. See Transformation.
  3. (Physiol.) The change of material of one kind into another through the agency of the living organism; metabolism.

Webster 1913