Metathesizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Shifts the position of sounds or letters within a word across its history ; reorders the sequence of items or parts in some arrangement
2. Changes the order of phonemes or letters in a word gradually over time ; alters the arrangement of components within a larger whole
3. Reverses the placement of sounds in a word through language change ; rearranges the ordering of elements in a set or structure

Etymology: The verb "metathesizes" is simply the third-person singular present form of "metathesize," meaning to transpose or reverse the order of sounds, letters or parts. Its base, "metathesis," comes from Greek "metathesis," literally "a placing across" or "transposition," built from "meta-" (across, change) and "thesis" (a placing). English "-ize" traces back to Ancient Greek "-izein," a verb-forming ending that passed through Late Latin "-izare" and Middle French "-iser" before reaching Middle English, which is why the spelling of the suffix is a "z" even though the word is built on Greek roots. The surprising detail lies in the suffix's long journey: a verb ending that Greek speakers attached to nouns and adjectives eventually became the most productive way English creates new verbs from scientific and technical nouns, so "metathesize" is a fairly modern formation built on an ancient pattern.

Synonyms: transpose, invert, permute