Etymology

metamorphic

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Today it means: Characterised by or exhibiting a change in form or character. Full definition →

First used 19th c.English metamorphosis ← Latin metamorphōsis ← Ancient Greek μεταμόρφωσις (metamórphōsis)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*me
  2. Proto-Indo-European*meth₂?
  3. Ancient Greekμετᾰ́ (metắ)
  4. Ancient Greekμετᾰ- (metă-)
  5. Ancient Greekμορφή (morphḗ)
  6. Ancient Greekμορφόω (morphóō)
  7. Ancient Greekμετᾰμορφόω (metămorphóō)
  8. Ancient Greekμεταμόρφωσις (metamórphōsis)
  9. Latinmetamorphōsis
  10. Englishmetamorphosis
  11. English todaymetamorphic

From metamorphosis + -ic.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 19th c. Characterised by or exhibiting a change in form or character.
  • from 19th c. Pertaining to metamorphism; having been structurally altered as a result of, or resulting from, exposure to intense heat and/or pressure (at the contact zone between colliding plates, for example).
  • from 19th c. Pertaining to metamorphosis.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.