Mĕt'a-môr'pho-sĭs, n.
n.; pl. MĔT'A-MÔR'PHO-SES. [Lat. metamorphōsis, Gr. μεταμόρφωσις, from μεταμορφοῦσθαι, to be transformed, from μετά, beyond, over, and μορφή, form, shape; Fr. métamorphose, It. metamorfose, metamorfosi, Sp. metamorfosis, metamorfosi.]
Sense 1. Change of form or shape; transformation.
Sense 2. A change in the form or function of a living body, by a normal process of growth, and usually occurring but once in its life. It is more than a difference in proportion of parts, and may imply either a thorough transformation, as in the metamorphosis of the yolk into the embryo, or a change of individual parts, which are common to both periods, as in the metamorphosis of a tadpole into a frog, or of a bud into a blossom, or a degree of both.