trasformare

Forms

trasformare (first-person singular present trasfórmo, first-person singular past historic trasformài, past participle trasformàto, auxiliary avére)^[1] The older spelling transformare is common in the 14th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin trānsfōrmō (“to change in shape”), from fōrma (“form, shape”) with the prefix trāns- (“across, beyond”), which expresses the change.^{[5][6][7][3][8]} Nocentini analyses it as fōrmō (“to form”) with the prefix.^[6] The Latin verb is used by Virgil and Quintilian;^[2][7][3] DEI and GRADIT compare it to Ancient Greek μεταμορφίζω (metamorphízō, “to transform”), of which DEI and Sabatini call it a calque.^[2][7][3] The same learned word is French transformer and Spanish transformar.^[6]

DEI places it among the learned words and notes Old French tresformer beside the French verb, recorded from the 14th century.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the reflexive trasformarsi, to become different in shape, appearance or thinking, before 1306 in Iacopone da Todi;^[5][2] Iacopone also has trasformazione.^[5][2] The transitive “to change in shape or appearance” follows in Boccaccio (1348–1353).^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio uses the verb for people whom age has changed beyond recognition, and Petrarch (1374) for a change of character and feelings.^[5][4][9] In the 14th century transformare could also mean to translate, as in Guido delle Colonne's vernacular version and Boccaccio's commentary on Dante.^[2][9]

The derivatives followed the sciences and politics: trasformabile and trasformatore appear before 1704 in Lorenzo Bellini, trasformatore takes its electrical sense in 1905, and trasformismo (1874) named both the shifting parliamentary alliances associated with Agostino Depretis and, in biology, evolutionism.^[5][6] In sport the verb now means to score from a set kick, a penalty in football or a conversion in rugby.^[7][10][3]

Timeline

• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses trasformarsi.^[5][2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses the transitive verb.^[5][7]
• 1374 – Petrarch uses it of a change of character.^[5]
• Before 1704 – Lorenzo Bellini has trasformabile and trasformatore.^[5]
• 1874 – trasformismo appears as a political term.^[5]
• 1905 – trasformatore names the electrical transformer.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To change the appearance, form or structure of something radically, to transform: Il nuovo parco ha trasformato il quartiere.^[7][10]
2. (transitive) To turn something or someone into something else: La fata trasformò la zucca in una carrozza.^[7][10][3]
3. (transitive) To change someone's character or ideas: Quel viaggio l'ha trasformato.^[7][10]
4. (transitive, sciences) To change the structure of a mineral or of an animal or plant tissue; in mathematics, to obtain one entity from another by a transformation.^[7][10]
5. (transitive, sport) In football and rugby, to score from a set kick: trasformare un calcio di punizione.^[7][10][3]
6. (pronominal, trasformarsi) To become completely different, to turn into: Il girino si trasforma in rana.^[10][3]

Word family

• trasformazione
• trasformatore
• trasformabile
• trasformismo
• trasformista
• trasformativo
• ritrasformare

Related words

• formare
• forma
• Latin trānsfōrmō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3868
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier