noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/tɹænsˈfɔːmə/
Received-Pronunciation:/tɹɑːns-/
General-American:/tɹænsˈfoɹməɹ/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)mə(ɹ)
General-American:/tɹænsˈfɔɹmɚ/
Received-Pronunciation:/tɹɑːnsˈfɔːmə/
CMU ARPABET:T R AE0 N S F AO1 R M ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Something that transforms, changing its own or another thing's shape.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A static device that transfers electric energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling; primarily used to transfer energy between different voltage levels, which allows the most appropriate voltages for power generation, transmission and distribution to be chosen separately.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A neural network architecture composed of layers of attention which takes sequences of tokens (representing text, images, audio, or other modalities) as input.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: machine learning
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Alternative letter-case form of Transformer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of
Topics: fiction, literature, media, publishing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A toy in the Transformers toyline which has mechanical parts that allow it to be altered in appearance from its original form as a humanoid robot action figure to another form, usually a vehicle, depending on the toy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: toys
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
In the Transformers franchise, any of the alien humanoid robots that can mechanically alter their appearance, or "transform", into a vehicle, creature, or (rarely) a tool.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: fiction, literature, media, publishing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
an electrical device by which alternating current of one voltage is changed to another voltage
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: electrical device
Narrower terms: coil, step-down transformer, step-up transformer, Tesla coil, voltage regulator
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *terh2-der. Proto-Indo-European *térh2t Proto-Indo-European *-ónts Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h2ónts Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h2n̥ts Proto-Italic *trāns Proto-Italic *trāns- Latin trāns- Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ)der.? Latin fōrma Latin fōrmō Latin transformo Old French transformer Middle French transfourmerbor. Middle English transformen English transform Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English transformer From transform + -er.
From transformer (something that transforms).
Across languages
Translations
95 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
преобразова́тел
(preobrazovátel)
— something that transforms
Finnish:
muuttaja
— something that transforms
Finnish:
muuttuja
— something that transforms
Greek:
μετασχηματιστής
(metaschimatistís)
— something that transforms
Greek:
μετατροπέας
(metatropéas)
— something that transforms
Greek:
μεταμορφωτής
(metamorfotís)
— something that transforms
Ido:
transformilo
— something that transforms
Russian:
преобразова́тель
(preobrazovátelʹ)
— something that transforms
Spanish:
transformador
— something that transforms
Spanish:
transformadora
— something that transforms
Swahili:
kigeuzi
— something that transforms
Albanian:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Arabic:
مُحَوِّل
(muḥawwil)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Armenian:
տրանսֆորմատոր
(transformator)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Armenian:
փոխակերպիչ
(pʻoxakerpičʻ)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Azerbaijani:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Basque:
transformadore
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Belarusian:
трансфарма́тар
(transfarmátar)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Bengali:
ট্রান্সফরমার
(ṭranśophromar)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Bulgarian:
трансформа́тор
(transformátor)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Burmese:
လျှပ်တာပြောင်း
(hlyapta-praung:)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Burmese:
ထရန်စဖော်မာ
(hta.ranca.hpauma)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Chinese Mandarin:
變壓器 /变压器
(biànyāqì)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Czech:
transformátor
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Danish:
transformer
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Danish:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Dutch:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Estonian:
transformaator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Finnish:
muuntaja
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
French:
transformateur
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Georgian:
ტრანსფორმატორი
(ṭranspormaṭori)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Georgian:
გარდამქმნელი
(gardamkmneli)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
German:
Transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Greek:
μετασχηματιστής
(metaschimatistís)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Gujarati:
ફેરવણું
(pheravṇũ)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Hebrew:
שַׁנַּאי
(shanái)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Hebrew:
טְרַנְסְפוֹרְמָטוֹר
(transformatór)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Hindi:
ट्रान्सफ़ॉर्मर
(ṭrānsafŏrmar)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Hindi:
परिणामित्र
(pariṇāmitra)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Hungarian:
transzformátor
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Ido:
transformatoro
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Indonesian:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Italian:
trasformatore
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Japanese:
変圧器
(hen'atsuki)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Japanese:
変流器
(henryūki)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Japanese:
トランス
(toransu)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Kazakh:
трансформатор
(transformator)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Khmer:
ត្រង់ស្វមម៉ាទ័រ
(trɑngsvɑɑmmaatɔə)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Korean:
변압기
(byeonapgi)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Korean:
트랜스
(teuraenseu)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Kyrgyz:
трансформатор
(transformator)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Lao:
ຫມໍ້ແບ່ງໄຟ
(mǭ bǣng fai)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Latvian:
transformators
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Lithuanian:
transformatorius
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Macedonian:
трансформа́тор
(transformátor)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Malay:
pengubah
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Māori:
whitihiko
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Mongolian:
трансформатор
(transformator)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Norwegian Bokmål:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Norwegian Bokmål:
trafo
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Norwegian Bokmål:
omformer
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Norwegian Nynorsk:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Norwegian Nynorsk:
trafo
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Norwegian Nynorsk:
omformar
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Persian:
ترانسفورماتور
(terânsformâtor)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Persian:
مبدل
(mobaddel)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Polish:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Portuguese:
transformador
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Romanian:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Russian:
трансформа́тор
(transformátor)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Serbo-Croatian:
трансфо̀рма̄тор
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Serbo-Croatian:
transfòrmātor
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Slovak:
transformátor
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Slovene:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Spanish:
transformador
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Spanish:
transfórmer
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Swahili:
transfoma
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Swedish:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Tagalog:
palitab
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Tajik:
трансформатор
(transformator)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Tatar:
трансформатор
(transformator)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Thai:
หม้อแปลงไฟ
(mɔ̂ɔ-bplɛɛng-fai)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Thai:
หม้อแปลงไฟฟ้า
(mɔ̂ɔ-bplɛɛng-fai-fáa)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Turkish:
trafo
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Turkish:
transformatör
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Turkmen:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Ukrainian:
трансформа́тор
(transformátor)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Urdu:
ٹرانْسْفارْمَر
(ṭrānsfārmar)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Uyghur:
ترانسفورماتور
(transformator)
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Uzbek:
transformator
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Vietnamese:
máy biến thế
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Vietnamese:
máy biến áp
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
Vietnamese:
biến áp
— device that changes the characteristics of AC electricity
