metaplasm

noun

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)