What does "translate" mean?
In Euclidean spaces: a set of points obtained by adding a given fixed vector to each point of a given set.
Translate
/tɹɑːnzˈleɪt/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: In Euclidean spaces: a set of points obtained by adding a given fixed vector to each point of a given set.
- Grammar: translate is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: interpret, render, alter, apply skill.
- Useful contrasts: bases, plot rotation, rotating mechanism.
- Usage evidence: It took me more than two hours to translate a few pages of English.
How to use "translate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "translate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "translate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "translate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "translate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "translate" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "interpret" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "translate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 In Euclidean spaces: a set of points obtained by adding a given fixed vector to each point of a given set.
"[F]ractions with a defining relation are nothing but linear orthogonal arrays or their translates."
Verb
- 1 Senses relating to the change of information, etc., from one form to another.; To change spoken words or written text (of a book, document, movie, etc.) from one language to another. transitive
"Hans translated my novel into Welsh."
- 2 change from one form or medium into another wordnet
- 3 Senses relating to the change of information, etc., from one form to another.; To provide a translation of spoken words or written text in another language; to be, or be capable of being, rendered in another language. intransitive
"Hans translated for us while we were in Marrakesh."
- 4 change the position of (figures or bodies) in space without rotation wordnet
- 5 Senses relating to the change of information, etc., from one form to another.; To express spoken words or written text in a different (often clearer or simpler) way in the same language; to paraphrase, to rephrase, to restate. transitive
"These works he [Oliver Goldsmith] produced without any elaborate research, by merely selecting, abridging, and translating into his own clear, pure, and flowing language, what he found in books well known to the world, but too bulky or too dry for boys and girls."
Show 24 more definitions
- 6 make sense of a language wordnet
- 7 Senses relating to the change of information, etc., from one form to another.; To change (something) from one form or medium to another. transitive
"The director faithfully translated their experiences to film."
- 8 determine the amino-acid sequence of a protein during its synthesis by using information on the messenger RNA wordnet
- 9 Senses relating to the change of information, etc., from one form to another.; To change (something) from one form or medium to another.; To rearrange (a song or music) in one genre into another. transitive
"If one were to chart the form of most film songs, translated into conventional terms used in Western music, one would likely see a structure that has an introduction and two or three stanzas: […]"
- 10 restate (words) from one language into another language wordnet
- 11 Senses relating to the change of information, etc., from one form to another.; To change, or be capable of being changed, from one form or medium to another. intransitive
"Excellent writing does not necessarily translate well into film."
- 12 express, as in simple and less technical language wordnet
- 13 Senses relating to the change of information, etc., from one form to another.; To generate a chain of amino acids based on the sequence of codons in an mRNA molecule. transitive
"All mRNAs are translated on the basis of consecutive groups of three bases, codons, being interpreted by the translational machinery […]. Many diverse proteins and RNAs are involved in the translation of mRNA. First is the mRNA itself, which is the template "read" and translated into a protein product."
- 14 bring to a certain spiritual state wordnet
- 15 Senses relating to a change of position.
- 16 subject to movement in which every part of the body moves parallel to and the same distance as every other point on the body wordnet
- 17 Senses relating to a change of position.; To move (something) from one place or position to another; to transfer. archaic, transitive
"Curſed be he which tranſlateth the bounds and dolles of his Neighbor."
- 18 be translatable, or be translatable in a certain way wordnet
- 19 Senses relating to a change of position.; To move (something) from one place or position to another; to transfer.; To transfer the remains of a deceased person (such as a monarch or other important person) from one place to another; (specifically, Christianity) to transfer a holy relic from one shrine to another. archaic, transitive
"Not far from hence is the Church and Convent of the Dominicans, where in the Chapel of St. Catherine of Sienna, they shew her head, the rest of her body being translated to Rome."
- 20 be equivalent in effect wordnet
- 21 Senses relating to a change of position.; To move (something) from one place or position to another; to transfer.; To transfer a bishop or other cleric from one post to another. archaic, transitive
"Iohn Fiſher Biſhop of Rocheſter, when the King [Henry VII of England] would have tranſlated him from that poore Biſhopricke to a better, he refuſed, saying: He would not forſake his poore little olde wife, with whom he had ſo long lived."
- 22 Senses relating to a change of position.; To move (something) from one place or position to another; to transfer.; Of a holy person or saint: to be assumed into or to rise to Heaven without bodily death; also (figurative) to die and go to Heaven. archaic, transitive
"By faith Enoch was tranſlated, that he ſhould not ſee death; and was not found, becauſe God had tranſlated him: For before his tranſlation he had this teſtimonie, that he pleaſed God."
- 23 Senses relating to a change of position.; To move (something) from one place or position to another; to transfer.; In Euclidean geometry: to transform (a geometric figure or space) by moving every point by the same distance in a given direction. archaic, transitive
"After translating this plane, parallel to the ground line, to the position n#95;1L#95;1r#95;1, these points appear at n#95;1 and r#95;1."
- 24 Senses relating to a change of position.; To move (something) from one place or position to another; to transfer.; To map (the axes in a coordinate system) to parallel axes in another coordinate system some distance away. archaic, transitive
"It is convenient at this point to translate the axis of the n dimensional space so that the origin of each axis occurs at its arithmetical mean."
- 25 Senses relating to a change of position.; To move (something) from one place or position to another; to transfer.; To cause (a disease or something giving rise to a disease) to move from one body part to another, or (rare) between persons. archaic, obsolete, transitive
"He [John Mackintosh] considers all the eruptions, even erysipelas, in the light of natural blisters, established by powers inherent in the constitution, which enable it to translate disease from the internal organs to the skin; […]"
- 26 Senses relating to a change of position.; To move (something) from one place or position to another; to transfer.; To subject (a body) to linear motion with no rotation. archaic, transitive
"Consider a collection of objects – perfectly elastic pool balls, perhaps – rattling around inside a closed, isolated container. We can translate the container and its contents through space, and the physics inside the container is unchanged."
- 27 Senses relating to a change of position.; To move (something) from one place or position to another; to transfer.; Of a body: to be subjected to linear motion with no rotation. archaic, intransitive, transitive
"If the ball were to hit the racket at its center of mass (CM) or balance point (which is usually in the throat of the racket), the racket recoil would be pure translation and there would be no rotation of the racket. Instead, if the ball were to hit in the center of the strung area, the racket would both translate (to conserve linear momentum) and rotate (to conserve angular momentum), […]"
- 28 To entrance (“place in a trance”), to cause to lose recollection or sense. obsolete, transitive
"William was translated by the blow to the head he received, being unable to speak for the next few minutes."
- 29 To repair (used shoes, boots or other clothing) for resale. obsolete, slang, transitive
"Boots and Shoes are not to be had, I am told, in sufficient quantity for the demand from the slop-shops, the "translators," and the second-hand dealers. Great quantities of second-hand boots and shoes are sent to Ireland to be "translated" there."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"It took me more than two hours to translate a few pages of English."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "translate"?
Common synonyms include: interpret, render, alter, apply skill, assign, attic greek texts.
How do you use "translate" in a sentence?
It took me more than two hours to translate a few pages of English.
How do you pronounce "translate"?
Pronounced /tɹɑːnzˈleɪt/.
Etymology
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”).