transmigration
Americannoun
-
the act of transmigrating.
-
the passage of a soul after death into another body; metempsychosis.
Etymology
Origin of transmigration
1250–1300; Middle English transmigracion < Late Latin trānsmigrātiōn- (stem of trānsmigrātiō ) removal. See trans-, migration
Explanation
Transmigration is the movement of a soul into another body after death. Transmigration is related to reincarnation. If you believe your cat is your reincarnated grandmother, then you believe in transmigration. The pieces of this word might look familiar — trans means “across,” as in transport or transcontinental, and migration is the act of moving, like birds flying south. Transmigration used to just mean what it sounds like, as in “move from one place to another,” but later it took on the deeper meaning of a soul moving into another body after death. Various religions are associated with different types of transmigration.
Vocabulary lists containing transmigration
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Shoma collects what she considers “incontrovertible proof” of the transmigration of souls, and the writing abounds in jargon from her research into parapsychology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
The thought behind Pythagoras' transmigration view is that humans and animals are alike.
From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2024
Pythagoreans also believed in the transmigration of souls, an idea that Plato would adopt.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
Knausgaard chews on notions of faith, free will, the transmigration of souls, the nature of angels, on meaning and nothingness in Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and Rilke’s poetry.
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2021
Brahminical caste, and the hereditary priesthood.—Of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, considered as the basis of Indian life, and of Indian philosophy.
From The Philosophy of History, Vol. 1 of 2 by Schlegel, Friedrich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
