Transformation is a powerful word.
That is exactly why it can become too broad.
A renovation transforms a room.
A new technology transforms an industry.
A major event transforms a person's circumstances.
Ordinary usage is legitimate.
But a technical or philosophical conversation may be using the word more narrowly.
When every large change is called transformation, the distinction loses explanatory value.
The point is not to police everyday language.
It is to know which meaning is operating.
Improvement changes degree.
Replacement changes form.
Adaptation changes fit.
A philosophical use of transformation may point to a discontinuity in the framework from which experience and action arise.
Those are different claims.
Precision lets the word remain useful instead of merely impressive.

A conceptual distinction between large change and transformation. Powerful language loses precision when every dramatic change receives the same label.

That is exactly why it can become too broad.

A major event transforms a person's circumstances.

But a technical or philosophical conversation may be using the word more narrowly.

When every large change is called transformation, the distinction loses explanatory value.

The point is not to police everyday language.

It is to know which meaning is operating.

A philosophical use of transformation may point to a discontinuity in the framework from which experience and action arise.

Precision lets the word remain useful instead of merely impressive.

Transformation Is Not a Synonym for Major Change