transformatio

Forms

trānsfōrmātiō f (genitive trānsfōrmātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin trānsfōrmō (“to change in shape”) + -tiō,^[2][3][4] a calque of Ancient Greek μεταμόρφωσις (metamórphōsis).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Conte's earliest example is in the commentary of Chalcidius (about AD 300), meaning a transformation or metamorphosis.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Hilary of Poitiers used it for the Transfiguration of Christ,^[5] and Augustine speaks of a desirable transformation in De Trinitate (15.8).^[2][3][6] It is an Ecclesiastical Latin word,^[2][7] and in British medieval Latin it also rendered the rhetorical terms metaplasm or metaphor.^[8] Renaissance humanists used it for change in general (Leonardo Bruni), and the plural for Ovid's Metamorphoses.^[9]

English transformation (about 1400) is from Old French and directly from the Church Latin word.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 300 AD – Chalcidius uses it in his commentary.^[5][4]
• c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary uses it for the Transfiguration.^[5][4]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it in De Trinitate.^[2][4]
• c. 1400 – English borrows it as transformacioun.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A change of shape, transformation, metamorphosis.^[2][3][5]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The Transfiguration of Christ.^[5][8]
3. (Medieval Latin, rhetoric) Metaplasm or metaphor.^[8]
4. (New Latin, plural) Ovid's Metamorphoses.^[9]

Related words

• English transformation

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com