transformative

The story

1. Latin · derived fromtrānsfōrmātus“transformed”
2. Medieval Latin · derived fromtransformātīvus“transformative”
3. English todaytransformative

From Medieval Latin transformātīvus (“transformative”), from Latin trānsfōrmātus (“transformed”) + -īvus (suffix attached to the perfect passive participial stems of verbs, forming deverbal adjectives meaning ‘doing or related to doing [the verb]’). Trānsfōrmātus is the perfect passive participle of trānsfōrmō (“to transform”), from trāns- (prefix meaning ‘across; beyond; through’) + fōrmō (“to fashion, form, format, shape”) (from fōrma (“appearance, figure, form, shape”); further etymology unknown, perhaps related to Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “a form, shape”)). The English word is analysable as transform + -ative.