... It's just a word that means 'to change'. ... It can be used for anything that changes itself or something else.
... Perhaps the original and accurate term was "AC voltage transformer" (electrical transformer is even more vague) inappropriately shortened (which happens in lots of cases). ... It is just an ordinary word being used for a specific device which does not negate the English meaning of the word for its other uses.
You're a day early
I'm not actually convinced that there
are any "English meanings of the word for its other uses" which in remotely common use.
The verb "to transform" is obviously used very widely, in many contexts. However, when it comes to the noun "transformer", by far the most common use is in relation to the 'electrical/electronic' devices we are discussing. That is invariably the primary definition in virtually any dictionary, always talking in terms of AC voltage/current and often qualifying that with the absence of change of frequency.
Most dictionaries give a secondary definition of something like "A person or thing that transforms" (which is essentially what you refer to above). However, other than for the 'cartoon character'/toys, I cannot think of any other "thing that transforms" that is commonly, if at all, called "a transformer" other than the 'things that do things to voltage/current' we are discussing. There are plenty of things which we don't call "transformers" (although the dictionaries says that we could) but, rather, call them "converters" or suchlike.
As for "a person that transforms", it is also a fairly uncommon use of the word. Describing someone as "a transformer" is usually reserved for people who have done far more than just 'changed' something, particularly those who have "profoundly changed/transformed thinking" on some subject - like Darwin, Newton, Einstein, Hubble etc. etc.
So, I wonder what "other English meaning uses" of the word "transformer" (referring to "things") you had in mind?
Kind Regards, John
