Link Centre Dictionary

translate

trans·late

UK/tɹɑːnzˈleɪt/ US/tɹænz-/ fairly common slang

verb

1.

restate (words) from one language into another language

  • “I have to translate when my in-laws from Austria visit the U.S.”
  • “Can you interpret the speech of the visiting dignitaries?”
  • “She rendered the French poem into English”
  • “He translates for the U.N.”
Synonyms
2.

change from one form or medium into another

  • “Braque translated collage into oil”
Synonyms
3.

make sense of a language

  • “She understands French”
  • “Can you read Greek?”
Synonyms
4.
5.

change the position of (figures or bodies) in space without rotation

6.

be equivalent in effect

  • “the growth in income translates into greater purchasing power”
7.

be translatable, or be translatable in a certain way

  • “poetry often does not translate”
  • “Tolstoy”
8.

physics: subject to movement in which every part of the body moves parallel to and the same distance as every other point on the body

9.

express, as in simple and less technical langauge

  • “Can you translate the instructions in this manual for a layman?”
  • “Is there a need to translate the psychiatrist”
10.

genetics: determine the amino-acid sequence of a protein during its synthesis by using information on the messenger RNA

Origin

From Middle English translaten (“to transport, translate, transform”), from Anglo-Norman translater, from Latin trānslātus, perfect passive participle of trānsferō (“to transport, carry across, translate”). See also -ate (verb-forming suffix). Distant doublet of transfer, see collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prelate and prefer among others. In this sense, displaced Old English wendan (“to translate,” also the word for “to turn” and “to change”).

Phrases

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.