Transformer

How to spell transformer

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce transformer

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does transformer mean?

1. nounA device that increases or decreases the voltage of an alternating electric current.

Transformer in a sentence

• The electrician replaced the faulty transformer in the substation.

• A small transformer steps the mains voltage down for the doorbell.

Where does transformer come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word is built from the verb 'transform', which English took in the 1300s from the Old French 'transformer', itself from the Latin 'transformare'. That Latin verb joins 'trans', meaning 'across' or 'over', with 'formare', meaning 'to shape or form', so it literally meant 'to change the shape of something'. The agent suffix '-er' was added in English to name the thing that performs the action, giving 'transformer' for anything that brings about a change. The modern electrical meaning arrived in the late 1800s, when engineers needed a name for the device that 'transforms' one voltage into another by means of magnetic coupling. Because the spelling simply stacks the familiar pieces 'trans', 'form' and 'er', the main trap is remembering the single 'r' that ends '-form' before the agent ending.

How the word is built

• trans- (across, beyond)
• form (shape, from Latin forma)
• -er (agent noun: thing that does)