Standard Lemma guide

metastability

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

An unstable but potentially long-lived state of a system; for example, a supersaturated solution or an excited atom.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the quality of a physical system that persists in its existing equilibrium when undisturbed (or only slightly disturbed) but able to pass to a more stable equilibrium when sufficiently disturbed

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: constancy, stability

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *me Proto-Indo-European *meth2? Ancient Greek μετᾰ́ (metắ) Ancient Greek μετᾰ- (metă-)lbor. English meta- English stability English metastability From meta- + stability.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: métastabilité — unstable but potentially long-lived state
  • German: Metastabilität — unstable but potentially long-lived state
  • Italian: metastabilità — unstable but potentially long-lived state
  • Spanish: metaestabilidad — unstable but potentially long-lived state
  • Turkish: yarı kararlılık — unstable but potentially long-lived state