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Webster 1913 Edition


Metathesis

Me-tath′e-sis

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Metatheses
.
[L., fr. Gr.
μετάθεσις
, fr.
μετατιθέναι
to place differently, to transpose;
μετά
beyond, over +
τιθέναι
to place, set. See
Thesis
.]
1.
(Gram.)
Transposition, as of the letters or syllables of a word;
as, pistris for pristis; meagre for meager.
2.
(Med.)
A mere change in place of a morbid substance, without removal from the body.
3.
(Chem.)
The act, process, or result of exchange, substitution, or replacement of atoms and radicals;
thus, by
metathesis
an acid gives up all or part of its hydrogen, takes on an equivalent amount of a metal or base, and forms a salt
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Metathesis

METATH'ESIS

,
Noun.
[Gr. over, and to set.]
1.
Transposition; a figure by which the letters or syllables of a word are transposed; as pistris for pristis.
2.
In medicine, a change or removal of a morbid cause, without expulsion.

Definition 2024


metathesis

metathesis

English

Noun

metathesis (plural metatheses)

  1. (phonetics, prosody) The transposition of letters, syllables or sounds within a word, such as in ask as /æks/.
  2. (inorganic chemistry) The double decomposition of inorganic salts.
  3. (organic chemistry) The breaking and reforming of double bonds in olefins in which substituent groups are swapped.

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