Transmutare

Transmutare is a Latin verb meaning to change, transform, or transmute, especially to alter something’s form, substance, or nature. The word combines the prefix trans- “across” with mutare “to change,” and is the progenitor of the English words transmute and transmutation through Latin and the later Romance languages.

Grammatically, transmutare is a first-conjugation verb. Its principal parts are transmutō, transmutāre, transmutāvī, transmutātum, enabling standard forms such as transmutō (I transmute), transmutāre (to transmute), transmutāvī (I transmuted), and transmutātum (having been transmuted). The present active indicative 1st person is transmutō, with other person-number forms built from the same stem.

In Latin, transmutare is used to denote general transformation as well as specific changes of form or substance. It appears in philosophical, rhetorical, and technical contexts, often alongside mutāre to convey change across boundaries or alterations of essence. In medieval and early modern texts, the verb figures prominently in discussions of alchemy, where it is closely associated with the broader concept of transmutatio—the supposed conversion of metals or substances.

In modern usage, the related noun transmutation designates the process of converting one element or substance into another, a term that entered scientific vocabulary through Latin and was later adopted in English. In science, transmutation has specific meanings in contexts such as nuclear physics and chemistry, referring to genuine elemental or compositional changes, as opposed to mere surface modification. See also transmutation, alchemy, and mutare.