Standard Lemma guide

metempsychosis

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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /mɛtəmsʌɪˈkəʊsɪs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Transmigration of the soul, especially its reincarnation after death.

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

after death the soul begins a new cycle of existence in another human body

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: rebirth

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: phenomenon

History

Etymology

From Late Latin metempsychosis, from Koine Greek μετεμψύχωσις (metempsúkhōsis).

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: تَنَاسُخ (tanāsuḵ) — Transmigration of the soul
  • Catalan: metempsicosi — Transmigration of the soul
  • Dutch: metempsychose — Transmigration of the soul
  • Dutch: zielsverhuizing — Transmigration of the soul
  • Esperanto: metempsikozo — Transmigration of the soul
  • Estonian: metempsühhoos — Transmigration of the soul
  • Finnish: sielunvaellus — Transmigration of the soul
  • French: métempsycose — Transmigration of the soul
  • Galician: metempsicose — Transmigration of the soul
  • Georgian: მეტემფსიქოზი (meṭempsikozi) — Transmigration of the soul
  • German: Metempsychose — Transmigration of the soul
  • German: Seelenwanderung — Transmigration of the soul
  • Greek: μετεμψύχωση (metempsýchosi) — Transmigration of the soul
  • Ancient Greek: μετεμψύχωσις (metempsúkhōsis) — Transmigration of the soul
  • Hungarian: lélekvándorlás — Transmigration of the soul
  • Italian: metempsicosi — Transmigration of the soul
  • Japanese: 輪廻 (rinne) — Transmigration of the soul
  • Korean: 영혼의 재생 (yeonghonui jaesaeng) — Transmigration of the soul
  • Korean: 윤회 (yunhoe) — Transmigration of the soul
  • Norwegian: sjelevandring — Transmigration of the soul
  • Polish: metempsychoza — Transmigration of the soul
  • Portuguese: metempsicose — Transmigration of the soul
  • Russian: метемпсихо́з (metɛmpsixóz) — Transmigration of the soul
  • Serbo-Croatian: метемпсихоза — Transmigration of the soul
  • Sicilian: mitimpsicosi — Transmigration of the soul
  • Spanish: metempsicosis — Transmigration of the soul