translate

/ˈtrænzleɪt/

/ˈtrɑnsleɪt/

Other forms: translated; translating; translates

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.

Definitions of translate

1. verb

   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:

   retranslate

   translate again

   mistranslate

   translate incorrectly

   gloss

   provide an interlinear translation of a word or phrase

   Latinise, Latinize

   translate into Latin

   type of:

   ingeminate, iterate, reiterate, repeat, restate, retell

   to say, state, or perform again
2. verb

   make sense of a language
   synonyms: interpret, read, understand

   type of:

   understand

   know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
3. verb

   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
4. verb

   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)
5. verb

   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
6. verb

   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
7. verb

   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
8. verb

   be equivalent in effect
   “the growth in income translates into greater purchasing power”

   type of:

   be, equal

   be identical or equivalent to
9. verb

   bring to a certain spiritual state
   type of:

   channel, channelise, channelize, transfer, transmit, transport

   send from one person or place to another
10. verb

    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