Definition of metamorphosis

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metamorphosis
development of a monarch butterfly

met·a·mor·pho·sis

-môr

-s

s) KEY

NOUN:
pl. met·a·mor·pho·ses (-s

) KEY

A transformation, as by magic or sorcery.
A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function.
Biology A change in the form and often habits of an animal during normal development after the embryonic stage. Metamorphosis includes, in insects, the transformation of a maggot into an adult fly and a caterpillar into a butterfly and, in amphibians, the changing of a tadpole into a frog.
Pathology A usually degenerative change in the structure of a particular body tissue.

ETYMOLOGY:
Latin metamorphsis, from Greek, from metamorphoun, to transform : meta-, meta- + morph, form

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