n.
Pronunciation: m ə - ' ta-th ə -s ə s
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -e · ses \ - ˌ s ē z \
Etymology: Late Latin, from Greek, from metatithenai to transpose, from meta- + tithenai to place ― more at DO
Date: circa 1538
: a change of place or condition: as a : transposition of two phonemes in a word (as in the development of crud from curd or the pronunciation \ ' p ə r-t ē \ for pretty ) b : a chemical reaction in which different kinds of molecules exchange parts to form other kinds of molecules
– met · a · thet · i · cal \ ˌ me-t ə - ' the-ti-k ə l \ or met · a · thet · ic \ -tik \ adjective
– met · a · thet · i · cal · ly \ -ti-k( ə -)l ē \ adverb