n. pl. me·tath·e·ses (-sēz′) 1. Linguistics Transposition within a word of letters, sounds, or syllables, as in the change from Old English brid to modern English bird or in the confusion of modren for modern. 2. Chemistry Double displacement. [Late Latin, from Greek, from metatithenai, to transpose : meta-, meta- + tithenai, to place; see dhē- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] met′a·thetic (mĕt′ə-thĕtĭk), met′a·theti·cal adj. met′a·thet′i·cal·ly adv. |
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