# transformation

Pronunciation: US say "trans-fur-MAY-shuhn" /ˌtɹæns.fɔɹˈmeɪ.ʃən/; UK say "trans-fuh-MAY-shuhn" /ˌtɹæns.fə(ɹ)ˈmeɪ.ʃən/

## Noun

1. A striking change in appearance or character, especially a change for the better.
   - Simple: A big change in how someone or something looks or acts, usually for the better.
   - _The neighborhood's transformation over the decade brought new shops and green parks._
   - _Years of disciplined training produced a remarkable transformation in the athlete's physique._
2. A change into a different form, or the state of having undergone such a change.
   - Simple: The act of changing something into a different form, or the state of having been changed.
   - _The transformation of the factory floor into office space took most of the year._
   - _Photosynthesis depends on the transformation of light into chemical energy._
3. In mathematics, a function that maps one space onto another or onto itself, often by replacing variables or repositioning the coordinate axes.
   - Simple: In math, a rule that changes one set of points or values into another.
   - _The transformation rotated every point ninety degrees around the origin._
   - _Applying the transformation mapped the unit square onto a slanted parallelogram._
4. In biology, the alteration of a bacterial cell caused by the uptake of DNA from another cell, especially when that DNA is pathogenic.
   - Simple: In biology, a change in a bacterial cell caused by taking in DNA from another cell.
   - _Bacterial transformation allowed the harmless strain to acquire genes from the virulent one._
   - _Researchers triggered transformation by exposing the cells to free-floating DNA fragments._
5. In linguistics, a rule that systematically converts one syntactic form into another, or a sentence derived by applying one.
   - Simple: In grammar, a rule that changes one sentence pattern into another, or a sentence made by applying one.
   - _The passive transformation reorders the subject and object of a clause._
   - _Early generative grammar relied on transformation to relate deep and surface structures._
6. In South African politics, the transition from the apartheid era to a multiracial democracy. *(South Africa)*
   - Simple: In South Africa, the change from apartheid rule to a democracy shared by people of all races.
   - _South Africa's transformation dismantled the legal framework of apartheid within a few years._
   - _The transformation brought formerly disenfranchised citizens into the political process._

## Origin

Inherited from Middle English transformacioun, from Middle French, from Ecclesiastical Latin trānsfōrmātiō. It is formed from 'transform' plus the suffix '-ation'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/transformation (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).