1350-1400;Middle Englishtransmutacio(u)n (< Old Frenchtransmutation) < Latintrānsmūtātiōn- (stem of trānsmūtātiō) a changing, shifting, equivalent to trānsmūtāt(us) (past participle of trānsmūtāre to change) + -iōn--ion. See transmute, -ation
late 14c., from Old French transmutation (12c.), from Late Latin transmutationem (nominative transmutatio) "a change, shift," noun of action from Latin transmutare "change from one condition to another," from trans- "thoroughly" (see trans-) + mutare "to change" (see mutable). A word from alchemy.
(trāns'my-tā'shən) The changing of one chemical element into another. Transmutations occur naturally through radioactive decay, or artificially by bombarding the nucleus of a substance with subatomic particles.