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transmigration

American  
[trans-mahy-grey-shuhn, tranz-] / ˌtræns maɪˈgreɪ ʃən, ˌtrænz- /

noun

  1. the act of transmigrating.

  2. 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.

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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.

You just need to think that transmigration is possible.

From Salon • Nov. 27, 2024

This informs the belief that an individual will bear a future burden for harms committed in the present through the process of samsara, or transmigration and rebirth of the soul.

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

“Infinite” may last a finite 106 minutes, but transmigration of souls or no transmigration of souls, life is too short.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2021

He further said that he believed in the transmigration of souls, but thought that all spirits would ultimately return to the Great Spirit whence they came.

From Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life by Child-Villiers, Margaret Elizabeth Leigh

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