Metempsychosis
/ˌmɛtɛm.saɪˈkoʊ.sɪs/noun
The supposed transmigration of a soul after death into another body, especially a human or animal body.
Did you know?Pythagorean and Platonic philosophers taught metempsychosis as a cycle in which souls could pass into human or animal bodies, making ethical behavior spiritually urgent.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
μετεμψύχωσις (metempsýchōsis)
“Transmigration or passage of a soul into another body”
Ancient Greek
Greek
μετα- (meta-)
“After, across, or change”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ἐμψυχοῦν (empsykhoun)
“To animate or put a soul into something”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ψυχή (psychē)
“Soul, life, or breath”
Late Latin
Latin
metempsychosis
“The doctrine of the transmigration of souls”
16th Century
English
metempsychosis
“The transmigration of the soul, adopted as a learned philosophical term”
Modern English
English
metempsychosis
“Belief in the soul’s passage after death into another body”
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