transmutation Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an act that changes the form or character or substance of something
    transubstantiation.
  2. noun a qualitative change
    shift; transformation.
  3. noun (physics) the change of one chemical element into another (as by nuclear decay or radioactive bombardment)
    • the transmutation of base metals into gold proved to be impossible

WordNet

Trans`mu*ta"tion noun
Etymology
F. transmutation, L. transmutatio. See Transmute.
Definitions
  1. The act of transmuting, or the state of being transmuted; as, the transmutation of metals.
  2. (Geom.) The change or reduction of one figure or body into another of the same area or solidity, but of a different form, as of a triangle into a square. R.
  3. (Biol.) The change of one species into another, which is assumed to take place in any development theory of life; transformism. Bacon.

Webster 1913