metathesis

[ muh-tath-uh-sis ]

noun

, plural me·tath·e·ses [m, uh, -, tath, -, uh, -seez].

1. the transposition of letters, syllables, or sounds in a word, as in the pronunciation [kuhmf, -ter-b, uh, l] for comfortable or [aks] for ask.
2. Chemistry. double decomposition.

metathesis

/ mɪˈtæθəsɪs; ˌmɛtəˈθɛtɪk /

noun

1. the transposition of two sounds or letters in a word
2. chem another name for double decomposition

Derived Forms

• metathetic, adjective

Other Words From

• met·a·thet·ic [met-, uh, -, thet, -ik], meta·theti·cal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of metathesis¹

First recorded in 1530–40; from Late Latin: literally, “transposition of letters of a word,” from Greek metáthesis “transposition, change”; meta-, thesis

Word History and Origins

Origin of metathesis¹

C16: from Late Latin, from Greek, from metatithenai to transpose

Example Sentences

To this purpose, they employed both a chemical reaction called ring-closing metathesis and photocatalysis -- a process in which chemical reactions are promoted by light energy.

From Science Daily

A sports manufacturer has developed a plastic baseball bat from compounds created through metathesis.

From Washington Post

“Metathesis reactions are an important tool in the creation of new drugs to fight many of the world’s major diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer’s and AIDS,” William F. Carroll Jr., then president of the American Chemical Society, told the Los Angeles Times in 2005.

From Washington Post

After a postgraduate year at Stanford University, he joined the Michigan State University faculty in 1969 and began his research in metathesis.

From Washington Post

Robert H. Grubbs, who shared the 2005 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his key contributions in understanding a chemical reaction called metathesis, leading to widespread applications in products from plastics to pharmaceuticals, died Dec. 19 at a hospital in Duarte, Calif. He was 79.

From Washington Post