metempsychosis

[muh-tem-suh-koh-sis, -temp-, met-uh m-sahy-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR metempsychosis ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural me·tem·psy·cho·ses [muh-tem-suh-koh-seez, -temp-, met-uh m-sahy-] /məˌtɛm səˈkoʊ siz, -ˌtɛmp-, ˌmɛt əm saɪ-/.

the transmigration of the soul, especially the passage of the soul after death from a human or animal to some other human or animal body.

Origin of metempsychosis

1580–90; < Late Latin < Greek, equivalent to metempsȳchō-, variant stem of metempsȳchoûsthai to pass from one body into another (see met-, em-², psycho-) + -sis -sis

Related formsmet·em·psy·chic

[met-uh m-sahy-kik] /ˌmɛt əmˈsaɪ kɪk/, me·tem·psy·cho·sic, me·tem·psy·cho·si·cal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for metempsychosis

recovery, revival, renewal, renaissance, restoration, rejuvenation, comeback, rehabilitation, regeneration, resurrection, reincarnation, awakening, metempsychosis, renascence, revivification, transmigration, reawakening

Examples from the Web for metempsychosis

Historical Examples of metempsychosis

He seems to have a leaning for metempsychosis and the doctrines of Pythagoras.
The Captain of the Pole-Star and Other Tales
Arthur Conan Doyle
The doctrine of metempsychosis is not found here, except perhaps in germ.
History of Religion
Allan Menzies
Schelling acknowledges it in his Dissertation on Metempsychosis.
Reincarnation
Th. Pascal
There is a dash of metempsychosis in it—and it is the strength of the piece.
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Metempsychosis, 364 (see also under Re-births and Transmigrations).
Sagas from the Far East
Various

British Dictionary definitions for metempsychosis

metempsychosis

noun plural -ses (-siːz)

the migration of a soul from one body to another

the entering of a soul after death upon a new cycle of existence in a new body either of human or animal form

Derived Formsmetempsychosist, noun

Word Origin for metempsychosis

C16: via Late Latin from Greek, from metempsukhousthai, from meta- + -em- in + psukhē soul

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for metempsychosis

1580s, "passing of the soul at death into another body," from Late Latin metempsychosis, from Greek metempsychosis, from meta "change" (see meta-) + empsykhoun "to put a soul into," from en "in" + psyche "soul" (see psyche). Pythagorean word for transmigration of souls at death. Related: Metempsychose (v.), 1590s.