metamorphosis (redirected from Metamorphosis (biology))

metamorphosis /meta·mor·pho·sis/ (met″ah-mor´fah-sis) change of structure or shape, particularly, transition from one developmental stage to another, as from larva to adult form.metamor´phic

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fatty metamorphosis  fatty change.

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met·a·mor·pho·sis (mt-môrf-ss)

n. pl. met·a·mor·pho·ses (-sz)

1. A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function. Also called transformation.

2. A change in the form and often habits of an animal during normal development after the embryonic stage. Metamorphosis includes, in insects, the transformation of a maggot into an adult fly and a caterpillar into a butterfly and, in amphibians, the changing of a tadpole into a frog.

3. A usually degenerative pathological change in the structure of a particular body tissue.

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meta·mor·photic (-môr-ftk) adj.

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metamorphosis

[met′əmôr′fəsis]

Etymology: Gk, meta + morphe, form

a change in shape or structure, especially a change from one stage of development to another, such as the transition from the larval to the adult stage.

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metamorphosis

change of structure or shape; particularly, transition from one developmental stage to another, as from larva to adult form.

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fatty metamorphosis

any normal or pathological transformation of fat, including fatty infiltration and fatty degeneration.