One way to generate a metric for a set $S$ (a distance function between elements $a,b$ of the set $S$) would be by associating it with a vector space $V$ (the vectors that connect the elements $a,b$) and using the norm (length function) of the vectors as the distance metric for $S$.
What would be the proper term for the entity that establishes the association between the set and the vector space, i.e. for a function $f: (a,b) \Rightarrow V$?
I guess I am looking for the appropriate synonym for a term like "vectorizer" or "vector space associator".
Example: given a set $S$ of strings over some alphabet, one can define a vector space $T$ of string transforms whose elements are mappings $f: (S) \Rightarrow S$. Given a norm (e.g. number of edit operations inside the transform) on $T$ via $n: (T) \Rightarrow R$ we can then induce a metric on $S$. But to do that, we first need a mapping $f: (S, S) \Rightarrow T$ to get from the set $S$ to the vectors $T$. What is the proper term for such a mapping?