metastasis

[muh-tas-tuh-sis]

noun

plural

metastases 

1. Pathology.

   1. the transference of disease-producing organisms or of malignant or cancerous cells to other parts of the body by way of the blood or lymphatic vessels or membranous surfaces.

   2. the condition produced by this.

2. transformation.

3. Rhetoric.,  a rapid transition, as from one subject to another.

4. Physics.,  a change in position or orbit of an elementary particle.

metastasis

/ mɪˈtæstəsɪs, ˌmɛtəˈstætɪk /

noun

1. pathol the spreading of a disease, esp cancer cells, from one part of the body to another

2. a transformation or change, as in rhetoric, from one point to another

3. a rare word for metabolism

metastasis

1. A cancerous tumor formed by transmission of malignant cells from a primary cancer located elsewhere in the body.

Other Word Forms

• metastatic adjective
• metastatically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of metastasis¹

First recorded in 1580–90, metastasis is from the Greek word metástasis “a changing”; meta-, stasis

Word History and Origins

Origin of metastasis¹

C16: via Latin from Greek: transition

Related Words

• changeover 
• conversion 
• development 
• evolution 
• growth 
• passage 
• progress 
• progression 
• shift 
• transformation 
• upheaval