Change in the structure of rock by natural agencies such as pressure or heat of introduction of new chemical substances

Wikipedia Word definitions in Wikipedia
Metamorphism is an album by Japanese noise musician Merzbow . The first 500 copies come in a marble box carved with the image of a fossilized ammonite .

WordNet Word definitions in WordNet
n. change in the structure of rock by natural agencies such as pressure or heat of introduction of new chemical substances

Wiktionary Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. 1 (context geology English) The process by which rocks are changed into other forms by the application of heat and/or pressure. 2 (context zoology English) The process by which insects development through life stages -- as, for example, those of embryo, ...

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1837, from metamorphic + -ism .

The Collaborative International Dictionary Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Metamorphism \Met`a*mor"phism\, n. (Geol.) The state or quality of being metamorphic; the process by which the material of rock masses has been more or less recrystallized by heat, pressure, etc., as in the change of sedimentary limestone to marble. --Murchison. ...