transformare

Transformare, or transformation, denotes a change in form, appearance, condition, or character of something. The term is used across disciplines to describe the process by which an entity is converted into a different state, often while preserving some underlying properties or identity.

In mathematics, a transformation is a rule that assigns to every point of a given set another point in the same or another space. Common geometric transformations include rotation, translation, reflection, and scaling. More advanced forms include linear and affine transformations, which can be represented by matrices and studied via properties such as invariants, composition, and the structure of transformation groups.

In computing and data processing, data transformation refers to converting data from one format or structure to another, as part of ETL (extract, transform, load) pipelines. This can involve data cleaning, normalization, schema mapping, and encoding changes. Transformation languages and tools (for example, XSLT for XML) automate these processes to enable interoperability and analysis.

In life sciences and engineering, transformation appears in several contexts. Genetic transformation is the introduction of foreign DNA into a cell, used in biotechnology. Coordinate transformations relate measurements between observers in different frames of reference, as in Galilean or Lorentz transformations. In linguistics, transformational processes modify word forms and grammatical categories to reflect syntactic or morphological changes.

Originating from Latin transformare, formed from trans- 'across' and formare 'to form', transformare is a foundational concept across many fields.