Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

metempsychosis

American  
[muh-tem-suh-koh-sis, -temp-, met-uhm-sahy-] / məˌtɛm səˈkoʊ sɪs, -ˌtɛmp-, ˌmɛt əm saɪ- /

noun

plural

metempsychoses
  1. the transmigration of the soul, especially the passage of the soul after death from a human or animal to some other human or animal body.


metempsychosis British  
/ ˌmɛtəmsaɪˈkəʊsɪs /

noun

  1. the migration of a soul from one body to another

  2. the entering of a soul after death upon a new cycle of existence in a new body either of human or animal form

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • metempsychic adjective
  • metempsychosic adjective
  • metempsychosical adjective
  • metempsychosist noun

Etymology

Origin of metempsychosis

1580–90; < Late Latin < Greek, equivalent to metempsȳchō-, variant stem of metempsȳchoûsthai to pass from one body into another ( met-, em- 2, psycho- ) + -sis -sis

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

After Darth Vader cut down Obi-Wan Kenobi in a lightsaber duel, the latter returned via metempsychosis as a Force Ghost.

From Fox News • Mar. 23, 2019

As to how Maf came by his feeling for history or his fancy prose style, not to mention an impressive knowledge of the works of numerous philosophers, especially Plutarch, the answer, it seems, is metempsychosis.

From The Guardian • May 7, 2010

Japanese approved, last week, certain pious rites ordered and paid for at Kyoto by one Yozo Fuyubayashi, a rich seller of flypaper, a gentleman, and a devout believer in metempsychosis or transmigration of souls.

From Time Magazine Archive

Perhaps there is not a single throne that, if it was to be filled by this sort of voluntary metempsychosis, would not remain empty.

From Winterslow Essays and Characters Written There by Hazlitt, William

At this moment the consolation leaped up within my hero like a fountain, that he was to begin on Thursday his metempsychosis through nature,–his journey.

From Hesperus or Forty-Five Dog-Post-Days Vol. I. A Biography by Jean Paul