transformo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [trãːfˈfoːr.moː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [transˈfɔr.mo]^[1]

Forms

trānsfōrmō (present infinitive trānsfōrmāre, perfect active trānsfōrmāvī, supine trānsfōrmātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from trāns- “across” and fōrmō “to shape”, from fōrma “form”.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot cites Virgil's Georgics, of Proteus changing his shape.^[4][5] Köbler dates Virgil 70–19 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to change in form or shape, transform, metamorphose, as Proteus does in Virgil, and to produce by transforming, as in Ovid, and Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-Augustan.^[2][5][4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to change in shape, transform.^[7] English transform (late 14th century, first of supernatural change) came through Old French transformer, and Church Latin trānsfōrmātiō gave English transformation.^[3]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.^[4][6]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it.^[4][6]
• late 14th century – English transform is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To change in shape, transform, metamorphose.^[2]
2. To produce by transforming.^[2]

Word family

• trānsfōrmātiō

Related words

• fōrmō
• fōrma
• English transform
• English transformation

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson