alter, exchange, shift, transmute, commute, metamorphose, substitute, turn, convert, modify, transfigure, vary, diversify, qualify, transform, veer.
To _change_ is distinctively to make a thing other than it has been, in some respect at least; to _exchange_ to put or take something else in its place; to _alter_ is ordinarily to _change_ partially, to make different in one or more particulars. To _exchange_ is often to transfer ownership; as, to _exchange_ city for country property. _Change_ is often used in the sense of _exchange_; as, to _change_ horses. To _transmute_ is to _change_ the qualities while the substance remains the same; as, to _transmute_ the baser metals into gold. To _transform_ is to _change_ form or appearance, with or without deeper and more essential change; it is less absolute than _transmute_, tho sometimes used for that word, and is often used in a spiritual sense as _transmute_ could not be; "Be ye _transformed_ by the renewing of your mind," _Rom._ xii, 2. _Transfigure_ is, as in its Scriptural use, to change in an exalted and glorious spiritual way; "Jesus ... was _transfigured_ before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light," _Matt._ xvii, 1, 2. To _metamorphose_ is to make some remarkable change, ordinarily in external qualities, but often in structure, use, or chemical constitution, as of a caterpillar into a butterfly, of the stamens of a plant into petals, or of the crystalline structure of rocks, hence called "metamorphic rocks," as when a limestone is _metamorphosed_ into a marble. To _vary_ is to _change_ from time to time, often capriciously. To _commute_ is to put something easier, lighter, milder, or in some way more favorable in place of that which is _commuted_; as, to _commute_ capital punishment to imprisonment for life; to _commute_ daily fares on a railway to a monthly payment. To _convert_ (L. _con_, with, and _verto_, turn) is to primarily _turn_ about, and signifies to _change_ in form, character, use, etc., through a wide range of relations; iron is _converted_ into steel, joy into grief, a sinner into a saint. To _turn_ is a popular word for _change_ in any sense short of the meaning of _exchange_, being often equivalent to _alter_, _convert_, _transform_, _transmute_, etc. We _modify_ or _qualify_ a statement which might seem too strong; we _modify_ it by some limitation, _qualify_ it by some addition.