Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MET-A-MORPH'OSE, v.t. [Gr. μεταμορφοω; μετα, over, beyond, and μορφη, form.]

To change into a different form; to transform; particularly, to change the form of insects, as from the larva to a winged animal. The ancients pretended that Jupiter was metamorphosed into a bull, and Lycaon into a wolf. And earth was metamorphosed into man. Dryden.