sea change
/ˈsiːˌt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/ noun
Forms sea changes
- noun (idiomatic) A profound transformation; a metamorphosis. “Public opinion has undergone a sea change since the 2002 elections.”
Synonyms
development transfiguration transmogrification conversion metamorphosis transfigurement transformation transmutation
Etymology
From Act I, scene ii, of The Tempest (1610–1611) by the English playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616), spelling modernized: “Full fathom five thy father lies, / Of his bones are coral made: / Those are pearls that were his eyes, / Nothing of him that doth fade, / But doth suffer a sea-change / Into something rich and strange”. The passage refers to how a drowned man’s body lying on the sea bed had been transformed by the sea.
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “sea change”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details