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transformation

Etymology and origin of the English word transformation

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1400
Borrowed from
Old French transformation
Ultimate origin
Latin (transformo)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌtɹæns.fə(ɹ)ˈmeɪ.ʃən/ (UK); /ˌtɹæns.fɔɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/, /ˌtɹæns.fɚˈmeɪ.ʃən/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French transformation and directly borrowed from Late Latin transformatio (“change of shape”),[2][3][4] from the past participle stem of transformāre (“to change in shape, metamorphose”) (see transform).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Change of form, nature or appearance, especially a supernatural one: about 1400 in Etymonline, 1432–50 in the OED.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

A complete change of character or condition is from 1581,[6] and in mathematics, change of form without change of value, from 1571.[6] Change of form in animals, as in insects, is from 1638.[6] In the theatre, a transformation scene that changes before the audience is from 1859.[6] An obsolete alternative was transformance (1610s).[2] Later senses include linguistics (transformational grammar) and genetics.[7][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – change of form.[2]
  • 1571 – in mathematics.[6]
  • 1581 – a complete change of character.[6]
  • 1638 – in zoology.[6]
  • 1859 – a transformation scene.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A marked change, as in appearance or character.
  2. The act of transforming, or the state of being transformed.
  3. (mathematics) A change of an expression or of coordinates into an equivalent form.
  4. (genetics) The change of a cell's heredity by taking in foreign DNA.

Word family

  • transformative
  • transformational
  • biotransformation
  • retransformation
  • transduction
  • transformationist
  • linear transformation
  • Lorentz transformation
  • transform
  • form
  • metamorphosis

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Transformation.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/transformation. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·