English 'metamorphosis' from Greek 'metamórphōsis' (transformation), from 'meta-' (change) + 'morphḗ' (form) — the word of Ovid and Kafka.
A transformation or change of form, structure, or substance; the biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching.
From Greek metamorphosis (transformation, change of shape), from metamorphoun (to transform), compounded of meta- (after, beyond, involving change) and morphe (shape, form). PIE root for morphe connects to a concept of imposing or seizing form. The prefix meta- derives from PIE *me- (in the middle of) and conveys transition or change of state. Ovid popularised the word as the title of his Metamorphoses (c. 8 CE), a compendium of mythological transformations. The term entered scientific use for the transformation of larvae into adults in the 17th century. In literary use it conveys total identity change — a usage secured by Kafka use of it in translation, though his original German title was Die Verwandlung (The Transformation).
Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' (8 CE) — a 15-book poem retelling 250 Greek and Roman myths of transformation — is the source of many English literary references. Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis' (1915), in which Gregor Samsa wakes up as a giant insect, drew its title from the same word. In biology, complete metamorphosis (caterpillar → butterfly) involves the near-total dissolution and rebuilding of the organism's body — the caterpillar literally liquefies inside the chrysalis.