What is "metatheses"

Metathesis \Me*tath"e*sis\, n.; pl. Metatheses. [L., fr. Gr. meta`qesis, fr. metatiqe`nai to place differently, to transpose; meta` beyond, over + tiqe`nai to place, set. See Thesis.]

1. (Gram.) Transposition, as of the letters or syllables of a word; as, pistris for pristis; meagre for meager.

2. (Med.) A mere change in place of a morbid substance, without removal from the body.

3. (Chem.) The act, process, or result of exchange, substitution, or replacement of atoms and radicals; thus, by metathesis an acid gives up all or part of its hydrogen, takes on an equivalent amount of a metal or base, and forms a salt.

n. (plural of metathesis English)

1. n. a linguistic process of transposition of sounds or syllables within a word or words within a sentence

2. a chemical reaction between two compounds in which parts of each are interchanged to form two new compounds (AB+CD=AD+CB) [syn: double decomposition, double decomposition reaction]

3. [also: metatheses (pl)]

See metathesis