métathèse (French)

Where does "métathèse" come from?

The French word 'métathèse' traces back to the Ancient Greek 'metáthesis', which combines roots meaning 'change' and 'to place'. This Greek term evolved from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to do' or 'to put', eventually passing through Late Latin before entering French. Originally used to describe the transposition of elements, it is now used in linguistics and chemistry to describe instances where components swap positions.

Full etymology tree

• métathèse (French), 'metathesis (the breaking and reforming of double bonds in olefins in which substituent groups are swapped)'
  • borrowed from metathesis (Late Latin)
    • borrowed from μετάθεσις (Ancient Greek), 'transposition'
      • compound of μετα- (Ancient Greek), 'concerning community or participation'
        • derived from μετᾰ́ (Ancient Greek)
      • compound of θέσις (Ancient Greek), 'a setting, placement, arrangement'
        • derived from τίθημι (Ancient Greek), 'to put, place, set'
          • inherited from *t(e/i)tʰēmi (Proto-Hellenic)
            • inherited from *dʰé-dʰeh₁-ti (Proto-Indo-European)
              • derived from *dʰeh₁- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to do'
        • suffix -σις (Ancient Greek), 'Added to verb stems to form abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result'
          • inherited from -τις (Ancient Greek), 'Earlier form of -σῐς (-sĭs), retained after dentals δ, θ, σ, τ'
            • inherited from *-tis (Proto-Indo-European), 'Derives abstract/action nouns from verb roots.'
        • inherited from *dʰéh₁tis (Proto-Indo-European), 'act of putting, placement'

Ancestors

• μετάθεσις (Ancient Greek)

Descendants and derived words

• métathèse de quantité (French)
• métathétique (French)

Updated March 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris