English
transmutation
Transmutation comes from Old French transmutacion ‘transformation, metamorphosis’, from Latin transmutō ‘to change’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to exchange’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-‘to exchange’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtō‘change, alter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtransmutōas transmutare‘to change’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtransmutationem
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400transmutacion‘transformation, metamorphosis’
- Englishearliest quotation 1877transmutation
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-‘to exchange’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtō‘change, alter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtransmutōas transmutare‘to change’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtransmutationem
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400transmutacion‘transformation, metamorphosis’
- Englishearliest quotation 1877transmutation
Earliest quotation: 1877, Robert Browning, La Saisiaz: “Up I rose and forth I fared: / Took…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to exchange’
miss, message, mad, mess, commit, premise, madden, intermittent, omit, misnomer, 19 more
through Latin mūtō ‘change, alter’
mute, mutant, immutable, molt, moult, mutate, mutable, commutative, commutation, 12 more
Today it means
noun Change, alteration.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- / transmutation