transubstantiation

American  

[tran-suhb-stan-shee-ey-shuhn] / ˌtræn səbˌstæn ʃiˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the changing of one substance into another.

2. Theology. the changing of the elements of the bread and wine, when they are consecrated in the Eucharist, into the body and blood of Christ (a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church).

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transubstantiation British  

/ ˌtrænsəbˌstænʃɪˈeɪʃən /

noun

1. 1. the doctrine that the whole substance of the bread and wine changes into the substance of the body and blood of Christ when consecrated in the Eucharist

   2. the mystical process by which this is believed to take place during consecration Compare consubstantiation

2. a substantial change; transmutation

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transubstantiation Cultural  

1. According to the traditional teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, the presence of Jesus in the sacrament of Communion. Through transubstantiation, the bread and wine consumed by worshipers become the body and blood of Jesus when a priest, acting on Jesus' behalf, speaks the words “This is my body” and “This is my blood” over them.

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Discover More

Transubstantiation was the focus of a great controversy during the Reformation, because most other groups of Christians (see also Christian) do not maintain this doctrine. They usually hold that the body and blood of Jesus are only symbolically present in the bread and wine or that the bread and wine are the body and blood of Jesus and bread and wine at the same time.

Other Word Forms

• transubstantiationalist noun

Etymology

Origin of transubstantiation

1350–1400; Middle English transubstanciacioun < Medieval Latin trānssubstantiātiōn- (stem of trānssubstantiātiō ). See transubstantiate, -ion

Compare meaning

How does transubstantiation compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• transubstantiation vs. consubstantiation

Example Sentences

The family’s transubstantiation of lucre into religious hardware was pretty brassy, because — not to put too fine a point on this — the Sassoons were drug kingpins.

From New York Times

On that metaverse platform, collectors will be able to convert NFT Mars rocks made by Sachs into digital worlds, a process that he termed “transubstantiation.”

From New York Times

When the Protestant reformers in the 16th century rejected the Catholic teaching that the bread and wine substantively became the body and blood of Jesus, Catholic Church leaders affirmed the teaching, called transubstantiation.

From New York Times

But eat its flesh, drink its sour juice, and it returns us to life — a simple notion that is primitively linked to the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.

From Washington Post

Like a high school science project, this three-dimensional precipice of infection had a certain bizarre power, with its transubstantiation of public misery into Styrofoam.

From New York Times