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meta·plasm
plural -s
Definition of metaplasm
1
[Latin metaplasmus, literally, transformation, from Greek metaplasmos, from metaplassein to remold, from meta- + plassein to mold] : alteration of regular verbal, grammatical, or rhetorical structure usually by transposition of the letters or syllables of a word or of the words in a sentence
2
[International Scientific Vocabulary meta- + -plasm; originally formed as German metaplasma] : material consisting of lifeless derivatives of protoplasm (as cell walls, starch grains)
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