metamorphosis
/ˌmɛtəˈmoɹfəsɪs/ noun C2- A transformation, such as one performed by magic.
- A noticeable change in character, appearance, function, or condition.
- A change in the form and often habits of an animal after the embryonic stage during normal development (e.g. the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly or a tadpole into a frog).
- A change, usually degenerative, in the structure of a specific body tissue.
Plural metamorphoses
From the library
His next care on leaving the barber’s who had achieved his first metamorphosis was to enter a shop and buy a complete sailor’s suit—a garb, as we all know, very simple, and consisting of white trousers, a striped shirt, and a cap.
The two girls looked with horror upon this shameful metamorphosis, the man of the world shaking off his covering and appearing as a galley-slave.
Historically conceived as mere menageries for public amusement, these institutions have undergone a profound metamorphosis over the preceding century.
Looking back, it is astonishing to consider how an ephemeral moment of boredom at a provincial train station instigated such a sweeping cultural metamorphosis.
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