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transfiguration

[trans-fig-yuh-rey-shuh n, trans-fig-]
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noun
  1. the act of transfiguring.
  2. the state of being transfigured.
  3. (initial capital letter) the supernatural and glorified change in the appearance of Jesus on the mountain. Matt. 17:1–9.
  4. (initial capital letter) the church festival commemorating this, observed on August 6.
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Origin of transfiguration

1325–75; Middle English Transfiguracion < Latin trānsfigūrātiōn- (stem of trānsfigūrātiō) change of shape. See transfigure, -ation
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for transfiguration

Historical Examples

  • The transfiguration then was the divine defiance of the coming darkness.

    Miracles of Our Lord

    George MacDonald

  • The Transfiguration, by Raphael, is an eminent example of this peculiar merit.

    Essays, First Series

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • She moved up to him and looked at him with an affection that was a transfiguration.

  • The Transfiguration, I think, will make a stare in England!'

    Art in England

    Dutton Cook

  • Do you know where the Church of the Transfiguration is located?

    The Last Woman

    Ross Beeckman

British Dictionary definitions for transfiguration

transfiguration

noun
  1. the act or an instance of transfiguring or the state of being transfigured
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Transfiguration

noun
  1. New Testament the change in the appearance of Christ that took place before three disciples (Matthew 17:1–9)
  2. the Church festival held in commemoration of this on Aug 6
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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 transfiguration

n.

late 14c., from Latin transfigurationem, noun of action from past participle stem of transfigurare (see transfigure). In English, originally "the change in appearance of Christ before his disciples" (Matt. xvii:2; Mark ix:2,3). The non-Christian sense is first recorded 1540s.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper