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.

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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.

Example Sentences

But even if you believe in transmigration, I don't personally think this argument means you should stop eating meat.

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

“I’m Thinking,” as it might just as well be called, is another of Kaufman’s patented studies in the transmigration of neurons.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 3, 2020

Or did they wish by their art of embalmment to preserve the body from decay, in order to deliver the soul from the dreaded transmigration?

From The Philosophy of History, Vol. 1 of 2 by Schlegel, Friedrich