Metathesis
/ˌmɛtəˈθiːsɪs/noun
A transposition of sounds or letters in a word or phrase.
Did you know?The word comes from Greek rhetoric and grammar, where it described a real shifting or “transposing” of sounds—proof that language change was studied like a kind of controlled transformation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dheh₁-
“to put, place, set”
Ancient Greek
Greek
μετάθεσις (metáthesis)
“a transposition or placing elsewhere”
Late Latin
Latin
metathesis
“a transposition, especially of sounds in a word”
Middle English
English
metathese
“to transpose letters or sounds”
Modern English
English
metathesis
“the transposition of sounds or letters in a word”
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