Metempsychosis

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /mɛtəmsʌɪˈkəʊsɪs/

Definitions

1. The notion that the spirit or essence of an individual is transferred to a new physical form after death encompasses the idea of continued existence and transformation across various life stages
2. The philosophical concept refers to the process by which the soul migrates from one body to another after death, signifying an ongoing cycle of life and renewal
3. The belief that a soul passes into a different body following death, continuing an eternal cycle of rebirth

Etymology: The Greek "metempsúkhōsis" was built from three parts: "meta," meaning change or transfer, "en," meaning in, and "psukhē," meaning soul or breath. Together they describe a soul moving into something else. Pythagoras and his followers are the figures most associated with the idea in the Greek world, and Plato later gave it a central place in several dialogues, though the exact teachings of the earliest Pythagoreans are hard to reconstruct with confidence. The word passed through Late Latin as "metempsychosis" and entered English in its Latinized form. Its usage stayed largely within theological, philosophical and scholarly writing, where it described the doctrine of reincarnation or transmigration of souls. The core image of the word is literal: a soul changing its dwelling, moving from one body into another rather than simply ceasing at death.

Synonyms: reincarnation, transmigration, rebirth, resurrection, soul migration

Antonyms: mortality, finality, death, permanence, stasis