mutate

[myoo-teyt]

verb (used with object), mu·tat·ed, mu·tat·ing.

to change; alter.

Phonetics. to change by umlaut.

verb (used without object), mu·tat·ed, mu·tat·ing.

to change; undergo mutation.

Origin of mutate

1810–20; < Latin mūtātus, past participle of mūtare to change; see -ate¹

Related formsmu·ta·tive

[myoo-tuh-tiv] /ˈmyu tə tɪv/, adjectivenon·mu·ta·tive, adjectiveun·mu·tat·ed, adjectiveun·mu·ta·tive, adjective

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

Related Words for mutated

modify, alter, vary, change, anomaly, mutant, mutation

Examples from the Web for mutated

Contemporary Examples of mutated

The marauding, man-eating Titans are mutated, androgynous beasts that have no need to feed but love to kill.
This Author Kills More Darlings Than George R.R. Martin
David Levesley
September 24, 2014
Instead, at this pace Smith brings the reader right around to the conflicts of Soviet old, but mutated thanks to added plutocracy.
Into Russia’s Dark Soul: The Serial Pleasures of Martin Cruz Smith
Sarah Weinman
November 13, 2013
These are single genes that, when mutated, greatly increase your risk for developing a specific disease.
The Supremes Get It Right, Naturally.
Sam Kean
June 14, 2013
The Internet basically exploded and then caved in on itself and then mutated into an alien cyborg in response.
Daft Punk Mystery Solved!*
Winston Ross
June 6, 2013
Police now acknowledge that the red-light district has mutated into a global hub for human trafficking and money laundering.
Legal Prostitution is a Terrible Idea
David Frum
February 19, 2013

Historical Examples of mutated

At any rate there was a virus—and he mutated it rather than the bacteria.
Pandemic
Jesse Franklin Bone
You have recognized that we are not mutated members of your race.
Missing Link
Frank Patrick Herbert
Yet it was possible that they had mutated beyond genetic compatibility.
The Lani People
J. F. Bone
Either accident or a mutated gene had warped his spine, hunching him forward in eternally bent supplication.
Planet of the Damned
Harry Harrison
Bacteria was piped in, first the known germ diseases, then mutated species.
Diplomatic Immunity
Robert Sheckley

British Dictionary definitions for mutated

mutate

verb

to undergo or cause to undergo mutation

Derived Formsmutative (ˈmjuːtətɪv, mjuːˈteɪtɪv), adjective

Word Origin for mutate

C19: from Latin mūtātus changed, from mūtāre to change

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 mutated

mutate

"to change state or condition," 1818, back-formation from mutation. In genetic sense, 1913, from Latin mutatus, past participle of mutare "to change" (see mutable). Related: Mutated; mutating.