transfigure

[ trans-fig-yer or, esp. British, -fig-er ]

/ trænsˈfɪg yər or, esp. British, -ˈfɪg ər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR transfigure ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), trans·fig·ured, trans·fig·ur·ing.

to change in outward form or appearance; transform.

to change so as to glorify or exalt.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of transfigure

1250–1300; Middle English transfiguren < Latin trānsfigūrāre to change in shape. See trans-, figure

SYNONYMS FOR transfigure

1. transmute, renew.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR transfigure ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formstrans·fig·ure·ment, nounun·trans·fig·ured, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for transfigure

So neither polling nor political theory can transfigure the human heart or orient our minds toward the brotherhood of man?
Dear Frank Luntz: Here’s How to Be Happy Again|James Poulos|January 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
An aureole of something more than human, of something entirely spiritual, seemed to transfigure her loveliness.
The conquest of Rome|Matilde Serao
But Mrs. Ascher's feelings were strong enough to transfigure even her clothes.
Gossamer|George A. Birmingham
The vision of the light 302of the Transfiguration did not transfigure the character of its beholders.
Byzantine Churches in Constantinople|Alexander Van Millingen

The silence appeared silly; there was, and there could be, no emotion to justify, to transfigure it.
The Literary Sense|E. Nesbit
She believes in her power to renew and transfigure them, to achieve in them a moral miracle.
Lux Mundi|Various

British Dictionary definitions for transfigure

transfigure

/ (trænsˈfɪɡə) /

verb (usually tr)

to change or cause to change in appearance

to become or cause to become more exalted

Derived Formstransfigurement, noun

Word Origin for transfigure

C13: from Latin transfigūrāre, from trans- + figūra appearance

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 transfigure

transfigure

c.1300, from Old French transfigurer (12c.), from Latin transfigurare "change the shape of," from trans- "across" (see trans-) + figurare "to form, fashion," from figura "to form, shape," from figura "a shape, form, figure" (see figure (n.)). Related: Transfigured; transfiguring.