metastasis
English
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metastasis
- /mɪˈtæstəsɪs/ UK
- /mɪˈtastəsɪs/ British, Southern, Standard
- /məˈtæstəsəs/ US
- /mɪˈtæstəsiːs/ UK
- /mɪˈtastəsɪjs/ British, Southern, Standard
- /məˈtæstəsiz/ US
Where it comes from
Learned borrowing from Late Latin metastasis (“(rhetoric) rapid or sudden transition from one argument, point, or topic to another”), and from its etymons Koine Greek μετάστασις (metástasis, “(rhetoric) rapid or sudden transition from one argument, point, or topic to another”) and Ancient Greek μετάστασις (metástasis, “change; removal; (medicine) movement of disease, pain, etc., from one part of the body to another”), from μετᾰ- (metă-, prefix denoting change in condition or position) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meth₂) + στᾰ́σῐς (stắsĭs, “condition, state; position”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”)), modelled after μεθιστάναι (methistánai, “to change; to remove”). By surface analysis, meta- + stasis.
In reference to the spread of cancer, a semantic loan from French métastase, whose use to refer to it was coined in 1829 by the French gynecologist Joseph Récamier (1774–1852).
The plural form metastases is a learned borrowing from Late Latin metastases.
noun metastases
- A change in nature, form, or quality. Stayed in her own house, searched her body each morning and examined her conscience each night for progressive symptoms of the metastasis she feared was in her.
- The spread of something harmful to another location, such as the metastasis of a cancer.
- A sudden or rapid transition from one point, topic or argument to another, often to evade an uncomfortable subject or to redirect the discussion.
- The transference of a bodily function or disease to another part of the body, specifically the development of a secondary area of disease remote from the original site, as with some cancers. Among the hypothesized diagnoses was metastatic carcinoma. In metastatic cancer, metastases are most frequent in the axial skeleton and are rare in the distal parts of the appendicular skeleton[…].
Translations
Every language
noun transference of a bodily function or disease to another part of the body
| Español | metástasis |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 転移 ten'i |
| 中文 | 轉移 /转移 zhuǎnyí, 遠處轉移 /远处转移 yuǎnchù zhuǎnyí, 遠端轉移 /远端转移 yuǎnduān zhuǎnyí, 腫瘤轉移 /肿瘤转移 of a tumour, 轉移灶 /转移灶 zhuǎnyízào, 轉移瘤 /转移瘤 zhuǎnyíliú |
| Português | metástase |
| Français | métastase |
| Deutsch | Metastase |
| Italiano | metastasi |
| Română | metastază |
| Русский | метаста́з metastáz |
| Tiếng Việt | di căn |
| עברית | גרורה |
Talk about this word "metastasis." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/metastasis. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. metastasis. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/metastasis "metastasis." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/metastasis.Cite this
@misc{metastasis_2026,
title = {metastasis},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/metastasis},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
