What does transmute mean?
Word: Transmute
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Transmute means to change something completely into a different form or substance.
How do you spell transmute?
Syllables: trans - mute
Tricky part: The s at the join is the letter students lose. Said quickly, the word can sound like 'tranmute', but that s must stay.
Watch out for: tranmute, tranzmute
Memory tip: Picture trans as a bridge from one form to another. The s is the last plank of that bridge, so do not leave it out.
Transmute in a sentence
Example 1: The potter's wheel seemed to transmute a lump of wet clay into a graceful bowl.
Example 2: Her disappointment was transmuted into a fierce wish to practise harder.
Example 3: Her poems transmute an ordinary walk into something memorable.
Fun Fact
Alchemists spent centuries trying to transmute lead into gold. Scientists first turned one element into another around 1919, when Ernest Rutherford changed nitrogen into oxygen.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
transm_t_
a) u, e
b) u, a
c) i, e
d) o, e
Show answer
a) u, e. The last syllable is the same as the word for silent.
Mingle-Mangle
Unscramble the jumbled word in the sentence and choose the correct word:
A good editor can mtesuntar a dull report into a lively story.
a) transplant
b) transport
c) transmute
d) transmit
Show answer
c) transmute. The jumble has a u and an e but no o, i or l, so only this verb can be built from it.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word transmute as used in the sentence:
Years of practice can transmute a shy beginner into a confident speaker.
a) obstruct
b) convert
c) recall
d) preserve
Show answer
b) convert. To turn one thing into another is to convert it; preserve would keep the beginner just the same.
Spell-o-Spell
One of these words is misspelt. Choose what it means.
1. silhouette 2. transmutte 3. reminisce 4. camouflage
a) to turn into a quite different form
b) to talk happily about past events
c) a dark outline against a light background
d) colours that help something blend in
Show answer
a) to turn into a quite different form. One t is enough at the end of this verb, and its meaning is about changing form.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In which sentence is something transmuted?
a) A book was moved to a higher shelf.
b) A letter was posted on a Tuesday.
c) A bus arrived ten minutes behind time.
d) A sad memory became a beautiful song.
Show answer
d) A sad memory became a beautiful song.
2. A chef who transmutes leftovers into a feast has ____.
a) served them just as they were
b) put them back in the fridge
c) thrown all of them away
d) made something new from them
Show answer
d) made something new from them
