transmutation

English

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transmutation

Etymology

Late 14th century, from Old French transmutacion (“transformation, metamorphosis”), from Late Latin transmutationem, from Latin transmutare (“to change”).

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /tɹanzmjuːˈteɪʃn̩/

Noun

transmutation (countable and uncountable, plural transmutations)

(obsolete) Change, alteration.
Synonyms: mutation, permutation, transfiguration; see also Thesaurus:change
The conversion of one thing into something else; transformation.
Synonyms: development, metamorphosis, transfiguration; see also Thesaurus:conversion
- 1877 September 14, Robert Browning, “La Saisiaz”, in La Saisiaz: The Two Poets of Croisic, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], published 1878, →OCLC, pages 15–16:
  Up I rose and forth I fared: / Took my plunge within the bath-pool, pacified the watch-dog scared, / Saw proceed the transmutation—Jura's black to one gold glow, […]
1. (alchemy) The supposed transformation of one element into another, especially of a base metal into gold.
  - 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 261:
    The transmutation of metals was secondary to the main aim, which was the spiritual transformation of the adept.
2. (nuclear physics) The actual transformation of one element into another by a nuclear reaction.
  - 2017, Bob Berman, Zapped: From Infrared to X-rays, the Curious History of Invisible Light, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 73:
    Years later, scientists learned that the sun’s light—visible and invisible—is merely the by-product of a process alchemists had vainly tried to reproduce for centuries—the transmutation of one element into another. That nature accomplishes this before our very eyes, and that it is what creates the solar heat and light that supports all life, was suspected by no one. The revelation came as a complete surprise.

Translations

change — see alteration

transformation — see transformation

the transformation of one element into another

Georgian: გარდაქმნა (gardakmna)
Hindi: तत्वांतरण (tatvāntraṇ)
Japanese: 変成
Persian: استحاله (fa) (estehâle)
Portuguese: transmutação f

the actual transformation of one element into another by a nuclear reaction

Japanese: 変成
Hindi: तत्वांतरण (tatvāntraṇ)

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