Metamorphosis : Transformation

To morph something :  To transform it

METAMORPHOSIS
SERIES
Cycles of Life
Nature's Secrets

UNDERSTANDING DEWEY
571.876 Regeneration (Biology)
591.334 Metamorphosis
597.891 Amphibians -- Metamorphosis
595.789 Butterflies -- Metamorphosis

See also: 571.8891 Regeneration (Biology)
Mitchell, Susan K. Animal body-part regenerators : growing new heads, tails, and legs. NJ : Enslow, c2009..


WORD ORIGINS
IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME
Greek μεταμόρφωσις, - transformation, transforming
meta - μετα- change
morph -μορφή (morfe) - form (see also morphine)
Greek metamórphōsis transformation.
Greek metamorphosis - a transforming
Greek metamorphoun - to transform

FUN WITH DEFINITIONS
Use these resources to look up the definitions. Notice there is more than one definition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphosis
From The Online Etymology Dictionary
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Metamorphosis&searchmode=none

DEFINITIONS
Metamorphosis (noun)
1. A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function. Also called transformation.
2. A change in the form and often habits of an animal during normal development after the embryonic stage. Metamorphosis includes, in insects, the transformation of a maggot into an adult fly and a caterpillar into a butterfly and, in amphibians, the
changing of a tadpole into a frog.
3. A usually degenerative pathological change in the structure of a particular body tissue.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical DictionaryCopyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

NOTE: Metamorphic, in geological sense (1833: Lyell)
"Rocks whose form has been changed by heat or pressure."
Lyell, Charles. 1833. Principles of Geology, Volumes 1-3. London: John Murray. Electronic Scholarly Publishing. ESP.org.

For more information about Charles Lyell (Father of geology) see http://thomashagen.wordpress.com/history-papers/charles-lyell/


SYNONYMS
mutation, transmutation.

ANTONYMS
stasis




FURTHER READING
The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung) : A short story (1915) by Franz Kafka.