Change Definition

chānj

changed, changes, changing

verb

changed, changes, changing

To undergo alteration or replacement.

Webster's New World

To cause to become different; alter; transform; convert.

Success changed him.

Webster's New World

To give a completely different form or appearance to; transform.

Changed the yard into a garden.

American Heritage

To give and receive reciprocally; exchange; switch.

Let's change seats.

Webster's New World

To put or take (a thing) in place of something else; substitute for, replace with, or transfer to another of a similar kind.

To change one's clothes, to change jobs.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

noun

changes

The act or process of substitution, alteration, or variation.

Webster's New World

Absence of monotony; variety.

Webster's New World

The replacing of one thing for another; substitution.

A change of atmosphere; a change of ownership.

American Heritage

A transformation or transition from one state, condition, or phase to another.

The change of seasons.

American Heritage

Something that is or may be substituted; something of the same kind but new or fresh.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

idiom

change hands

To pass from one owner to another.

American Heritage

change (one's) mind

To reverse a previously held opinion or an earlier decision.

American Heritage

change (one's) tune

To alter one's approach or attitude.

American Heritage

change off

to take turns

Webster's New World

ring the changes

to ring a set of bells with all possible variations
to do or say a thing in many and various ways

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Change

Noun

Singular:

change

Plural:

changes

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Change

Origin of Change

As a verb, via Middle English cha(u)ngen, from Anglo-Norman chaunger, from Old French changier (compare modern French changer), from Late Latin cambiāre, from Latin cambīre, present active infinitive of cambiō (“exchange, barter”), of Celtic origin, from Proto-Celtic *kamb- (“crooked, bent”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱamb-, *(s)kamb- (“crooked”). Cognate with Italian cambiare, Portuguese cambiar, Romanian schimb, Spanish cambiar. Used in English since the 13th Century.

From Wiktionary
As a noun, from Middle English cha(u)nge, from Anglo-Norman chaunge, from Old French change, from a derivative of the verb changier. See below for the verb form. See also exchange.

From Wiktionary
Middle English changen from Norman French chaunger from Latin cambiāre, cambīre to exchange probably of Celtic origin

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition