metamorphose
/ˌmɛtəˈmɔːˌfəʊz/
"metamorphose" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“metamorphose” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a moth or insect, to undergo metamorphosis.
Corpus desk
Index EN-metamorphose · metamorphose · English
metamorphose · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | metamorphose |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌmɛtəˈmɔːˌfəʊz/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “metamorphose” in English
Rare enough to double-check
metamorphose is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌmɛtəˈmɔːˌfəʊz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for metamorphose in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French métamorphoser, from Old French metamorphose, from Latin metamorphōsis; see metamorphosis. The correct English form is metamorphose, spelled M-E-T-A-M-O-R-P-H-O-S-E.
Definition
- 1Of a moth or insect, to undergo metamorphosis.
- 2To undergo some transformation.
- 3To transform (something) so that it has a completely different appearance.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how metamorphose appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In fact, perhaps this is the pure and perfect incest: the brother realising that the sister’s virginity must be destroyed in order to have existed at all, taking that virginity in the person of the brother-in-law, the man whom he would be if he could become, metamorphose into, the lover, the husband; by whom he would be despoiled, choose for despoiler, if…
Environmental problems are not objectively existing physical phenomena amenable to reliable analysis and diagnosis. They are social constructions whose meaning and significance metamorphose and wax and wane according to changeable human interest.
Etymology
From French métamorphoser, from Old French metamorphose, from Latin metamorphōsis; see metamorphosis.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.