transmute

[ trans-myoot, tranz- ]

verb (used with or without object)

, trans·mut·ed, trans·mut·ing.

1. to change from one nature, substance, form, or condition into another; transform.

   Synonyms: alter, convert, metamorphose

transmute

/ trænzˈmjuːt /

verb

1. to change the form, character, or substance of
2. to alter (an element, metal, etc) by alchemy

Derived Forms

• transˈmutable, adjective
• transˈmuter, noun
• transˈmutably, adverb
• transˌmutaˈbility, noun

Other Words From

• trans·muta·ble adjective
• trans·muta·bili·ty trans·muta·ble·ness noun
• trans·muta·bly adverb
• trans·muter noun
• untrans·muta·bili·ty noun
• untrans·muta·ble adjective
• untrans·muta·ble·ness noun
• untrans·muta·bly adverb
• untrans·muted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of transmute¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin trānsmūtāre to shift, equivalent to trāns- trans- + mūtāre to change.

Word History and Origins

Origin of transmute¹

C15: via Old French from Latin transmūtāre to shift, from trans- + mūtāre to change

Example Sentences

Overwhelmed by her inability to transmute the complexities of her mulatto identity into literature, Jane, broke and burned out, tries to game a feckless entertainment industry that turns racial representation into prestige streaming bait, at least until the heat wears off and flames out.

From Los Angeles Times

Rather, the team can observe how much of a sample does not transmute, and by taking readings to know that transmutation did in fact take place, they can estimate, albeit very accurately, how much of the sample did transmute.

From Science Daily

To transmute such willful inelegance into high art would be a miracle indeed.

From New York Times

The specific achievement of this movie, recently named the best picture of the year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn., is to explore evil without glamorizing it, and to transmute the mundane into something quietly mesmerizing.

From Los Angeles Times

And when we arrive at the next iteration of this choice, no amount of misappropriated feminist language about body-positive girl-boss empowerment will transmute our coerced participation in sexual self-subjugation into the material reality of our liberation.

From Salon

Related Words

• metamorphose
• mutate