Trans-fōrm′1, v. t.
v. t. [imp. & p. p. TRANSFORMED; p. pr. & vb. n. TRANSFORMING.] [Fr. transformer, Pr. & Pg. transformar, Sp. transformer, trasformare, It. transformare, trasformare, Lat. transformare, from trans, across, over, and formare, to form.]
Sense 1. To change the form of; to change in shape or appearance; to metamorphose; as, a caterpillar transformed into a butterfly.
Love may transform me to an oyster. Shak.
Sense 2. To change into another substance; to transmute; as, the alchemists sought to transform lead into gold.
Sense 3. (Theol.) To change the disposition and temper of, from a state of enmity to God and his law into the image of God, or into a disposition and temper conformed to the will of God.
Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Rom. xii. 2.
Sense 4. (Rom. Cath. Church.) To change, as the elements, bread and wine, into the flesh and blood of Christ.
Sense 5. Among the mystics, to change, as the contemplative soul, into a divine substance, by which it is lost or swallowed up in the divine nature.
Sense 6. (Math.) To change into another form without altering the value, as an equation, without destroying the equality of its members, or a geometrical figure, without changing its area or volume.