Metachrosis, met-a-krō′sis, n. colour-change, as of a chameleon.
Metacism. See Mytacism.
Metage, mēt′āj, n. measurement of coal: price of measurement. [Mete.]
Metagenesis, met-a-jen′e-sis, n. (biol.) a kind of alteration of generations in which a series of generations of unlike forms come between the egg and the parent type.—adj. Metagenet′ic.
Metagnostic, met-ag-nos′tik, adj. transcending present knowledge.—n. one who holds that there is a supreme being, but that he transcends knowledge.—n. Metagnos′ticism.
Metairie, mē-tā′rē, n. a piece of land cultivated for a share of the produce. [Fr. See Metayer.]
Metal, met′al, n. an opaque substance, possessing a peculiar lustre, fusibility, conductivity for heat and electricity, &c., such as gold, &c.: courage or spirit (now spelt mettle): intrinsic quality: the number and power of guns carried by a ship-of-war: broken stones used for macadamised roads: (pl.) the rails of a railroad.—v.t. to put metal on, as a road.—n. Metalic′ity.—adjs. Met′alled, covered with metal, as a road; Metal′lic, pertaining to, or like, a metal: consisting of metal.—adv. Metal′lically.—adjs. Metallif′erous, producing or yielding metals; Metal′liform, having the form of metals: like metal; Met′alline, pertaining to a metal: consisting of, or mixed with, metal.—ns. Met′alling, road-metal, broken stones; Metallisā′tion.—v.t. Met′allise, to form into metal: to give to a substance its metallic properties.—ns. Met′allist, a worker in metals: one who is skilled in metals: an advocate of the use of metal as currency; Metal′lograph, a print produced by metallographic process.—adj. Metallograph′ic—ns. Metallog′raphist; Metallog′raphy, an account or description of metals: a process for utilising metal plates in a manner similar to lithographic stones: a process of imitating the grain of wood on metals; Met′alloid, one of the metallic bases of the fixed alkalies and alkaline earths: any of the elements which are non-metallic in the chemical sense of being able to replace hydrogen in an acid, and thus forming a salt: one of the inflammable non-metallic elements (sulphur, phosphorus, &c.).—adjs. Met′alloid, Metalloid′al, pertaining to, or of the nature of, the metalloids.—ns. Metal′lophone, a kind of piano, having graduated metal bars in place of strings: a musical instrument, differing from the xylophone in having metal instead of wooden bars; Met′allotherapy, the treatment of disease by the external application of metals.—Metallic oxide, a compound of metal and oxygen; Metallic salts, salts having a metal or metallic oxide for base.—Base metals, lead, zinc, copper, iron; Fusible metal, a metallic alloy that fuses at a very low temperature—usually of lead, tin, and bismuth; Light metals, those whose specific gravity is less than 5; Noble, or Perfect, metals, gold, silver, platinum, so called because they keep their lustre when exposed to the air. [Fr.,—L. metallum—Gr. metallon, a mine, a metal.]
Metalepsis, met-a-lep′sis, n. (rhet.) a compound figure that consists in uniting two or more different tropes in the same word, or in so using a word as to suggest two or three different figures by it.—adjs. Metalep′tic, -al. [Gr.]
Metallurgy, met′al-ur-ji, n. the art of working metals: the art of separating metals from their ores.—adj. Metallur′gic, pertaining to metallurgy.—n. Met′allurgist, one who works metals: one skilled in metallurgy. [Gr. metallon, a metal, ergon, work.]
Metamerism, met′a-me-rizm, n. (chem.) a particular form of isomerism, seen in substances having the same molecular formula, but in which all the atoms in the molecule are not directly united: (zool.) segmentation of the body of an animal along the primary axis, producing a series of homologous parts.—adjs. Met′amēral, Metamer′ic.—n. Met′amere. [Gr. meta, after, meros, a part.]