transmute

See also: transmuté

English

Etymology

From Latin trānsmūtāre, from trans + mūtāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɹænzˈmjuːt/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Verb

transmute (third-person singular simple present transmutes, present participle transmuting, simple past and past participle transmuted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To change or convert one thing to another, or from one state or form to another.

   Synonyms: transform, transmogrify; alchemise

   Hypernyms: alter, change

   The alchemists tried to transmute base metals to gold.

   Did the base metals transmute to gold?

   • 2000 June 17, Elizabeth A. Johnson, “Mary of Nazareth: Friend of God and Prophet”, in America‎^[1], volume 182, number 21:

     Mary is sister to the marginalized women who live unchronicled lives in oppressive situations. It does her no honor to rip her out of her conflictual, dangerous historical circumstances and transmute her into an icon of a peaceful, middle-class life robed in royal blue.

   • 2023 April 14, Roslyn Sulcas, “Review: Grief and Mourning, Delivered With Ecstatic Vitality”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     There is silence, then the sound of weeping, which escalates to heart-rending, gasping sobs. A man, the source of the lamentation, appears and as he walks across the stage, his cries transmute into song, and the slow snare drum rat-a-tat-tat of Ravel’s composition begins.

Related terms

• transmutability
• transmutable
• transmutant
• transmutate
• transmutation

Translations

to convert one thing into another

• Bulgarian: превръщам (bg) (prevrǎštam)
• Catalan: transmutar (ca)
• Dutch: omvormen (nl)
• Finnish: muuttaa (fi) (transitive), muuttua (fi) (intransitive)
• French: transmuer (fr)
• German: verwandeln (de), umwandeln (de)
• Japanese: 変移 (ja)
• Maori: whakaahuakē
• Romanian: transmuta (ro)
• Spanish: transmutar (es), trasladar (es); transmutarse (es), trasladarse (es)

Anagrams

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French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: transmutent, transmutes

Verb

transmute

1. inflection of transmuter:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Portuguese

Verb

transmute

1. inflection of transmutar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

transmute

1. inflection of transmutar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative