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translate

To translate is to put into a different language or interpret. If your brother says, "Gee, Mom, all of my friends have really cool pets, like snakes and stuff," you can translate that statement to mean "I want a snake."

Translate comes from the Latin translates, which means "carry across." The word isn't limited to talking about language. You can translate sales into dollars, or a play into a movie. When used that way, translate means changing something from one form to another.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: translate

1
 v
restate (words) from one language into another language
2
 v
subject to movement in which every part of the body moves parallel to and the same distance as every other point on the body
3
 v
be equivalent in effect
4
 v
bring to a certain spiritual state
5
 v
determine the amino-acid sequence of a protein during its synthesis by using information on the messenger RNA
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: translate
1

v restate (words) from one language into another language

“I have to translate when my in-laws from Austria visit the U.S.”
“He translates for the U.N.”
Synonyms:
interpret, render
Types:
show 4 types...
hide 4 types...
retranslate
translate again
mistranslate
translate incorrectly
gloss
provide an interlinear translation of a word or phrase
Latinize
translate into Latin
Type of:
ingeminate, iterate, reiterate, repeat, restate, retell
to say, state, or perform again

v make sense of a language

Synonyms:
interpret, read, understand
Type of:
understand
know and comprehend the nature or meaning of

v express, as in simple and less technical language

“Can you translate the instructions in this manual for a layman?”
“Is there a need to translate the psychiatrist's remarks?”
Type of:
paraphrase, rephrase, reword
express the same message in different words

v be translatable, or be translatable in a certain way

“poetry often does not translate”
“Tolstoy's novels translate well into English”
Synonyms
interpret, render
restate (words) from one language into another language
Type of:
be
have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)

v change from one form or medium into another

“Braque translated collage into oil”
Synonyms:
transform
Types:
metricise, metricize
express in the metric system
diagonalise, diagonalize
transform a matrix to a diagonal matrix
Type of:
alter, change, modify
cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
2

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

Type of:
displace, move
cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense

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

Type of:
displace, move
cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense
3

v be equivalent in effect

“the growth in income translates into greater purchasing power”
Type of:
be, equal
be identical or equivalent to
4

v bring to a certain spiritual state

Type of:
channel, channelise, channelize, transfer, transmit, transport
send from one person or place to another
5

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

Type of:
ascertain, determine, find, find out
establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study
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