transubstantiation · noun — the doctrine holding that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are essentially transformed into the body and blood of Jesus. It carries an Arena rating of 1464, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, transubstantiation ranks #654 of 17,146 for Most Storied Words, #687 of 17,163 for Most Sublime Words, #1,474 of 17,205 for The Improbable, #2,729 of 17,131 for Most Ponderous Words.
transubstantiation is pronounced /tɹænz.səbˈstæn.ʃiˌeɪ.ʃən/.
Why “transubstantiation” is a great word
The complete conversion of the substance of the Eucharistic bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood, while their sensory appearances remain unchanged. From Medieval Latin transubstantiationem (nominative transubstantiatio), from Latin trans- ("across, beyond") + substantia ("substance, essence"), the term was formally adopted into theological language in the 12th century. Unlike "consubstantiation," which proposes a coexistence of substances, or the generic "transformation," a change in form, transubstantiation describes a metaphysical crossing-over of essence itself. It is the profound quiet of a kneeling congregation, the taste of plain wine on the tongue that faith declares is sacred blood, and the unbearable weight of the infinite contained within the thin, brittle accidents of a wafer—a dogma that places the universe’s greatest tension in the act of swallowing, where the ordinary is made infinite through absence.
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Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin trānsubstantiātiō.
noun
- The doctrine holding that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are essentially transformed into the body and blood of Jesus.
- Conversion of one substance into another.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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