transmute
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
-
to change the form, character, or substance of
-
to alter (an element, metal, etc) by alchemy
Other Word Forms
- transmutability noun
- transmutable adjective
- transmutableness noun
- transmutably adverb
- transmuter noun
- untransmutability noun
- untransmutable adjective
- untransmutableness noun
- untransmutably adverb
- untransmuted adjective
Etymology
Origin of transmute
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin trānsmūtāre to shift, equivalent to trāns- trans- + mūtāre to change.
Explanation
Transmute is a verb meaning to change in appearance or form. For example, magical creatures can transmute into other beings. When you're fighting a wizard, don’t be surprised if he transmutes into a terrifying dragon. More realistically, you, too, can transmute your appearance — by dying your hair, piercing your nose, or changing your style of dress. Transmute often describes physical change — like when alchemists tried to transmute lead into gold — but it can also be used more figuratively to describe anything that's transformed. For example, you might transmute your sketchy memories of growing up in Boston into the Great American Novel.
Vocabulary lists containing transmute
American Gods
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The Good Earth
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The Left Hand of Darkness
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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.
The rosary presupposes our boredom, propensity to distraction, and impatience with dull routine and attempts to transmute these failings into the virtues of faith, hope and charity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026
Astrologers consult a national zodiac, palm readers ring pagodas, would-be alchemists attempt to transmute mercury into gold and SIM card companies advertise dial-a-diviners.
From Barron's • Dec. 21, 2025
"What causes something to be insulating, conducting or magnetic? Can we transmute something into a different state?"
From Science Daily • Nov. 17, 2025
According to Israel's Basic Law, the president "has the power to pardon criminals and reduce or transmute their sentence".
From BBC • Nov. 12, 2025
If you cut an atom, you transmute the elements.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
