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Added 9 October 2026

metathesis

/məˈtæ.θə.sɪs/ noun

Latin root: metathesis Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about metathesis at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A linguistic process of transposition of sounds or syllables within a word or words within a sentence.
A chemical reaction between two compounds in which parts of each are interchanged to form two new compounds (AB+CD=AD+CB).

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin metathesis, from Ancient Greek μετάθεσις (metáthesis), from μετά (metá, “among”) + θέσις (thésis, “placement”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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