Definition

1. Verb:
   • To express the meaning of words or text in another language: The core meaning is to change written or spoken communication from one language into another.
   • To change something from one form, state, or medium to another: This involves a transformation or conversion, not necessarily between languages.
   • To be capable of being changed into another form or language: Describes the inherent quality of something that allows for translation.
   • To result in or be equivalent to a particular effect: To have a direct consequence or parallel in another context.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (Language):
  • She will translate the document from Spanish to English.
  • Can you translate what he just said?
• Verb (Form/Medium):
  • The artist sought to translate the feeling of chaos into a sculpture.
  • It's difficult to translate theoretical ideas into practical solutions.
• Verb (Capability):
  • Idioms often do not translate well between cultures.
  • This novel translates beautifully into film.
• Verb (Result/Effect):
  • Increased investment should translate into higher productivity.
  • His confidence on the practice field did not translate to the actual game.

Advanced Usage

• "to translate as": to interpret or understand something in a specific way.
  • His silence was translated as agreement.
• In computing: To convert data from one format to another.
  • The software translates the code into machine language.
• In biology: To form a protein based on the genetic code in messenger RNA.
  • Ribosomes translate the mRNA sequence.

Variants and Related Words

• Translation (n): The process or product of translating.
  • The translation of the poem captured its original spirit.
• Translator (n): A person or tool that translates.
  • She works as a professional translator.
• Translatable (adj): Capable of being translated.
  • The concept is easily translatable across different fields.

Synonyms

• Interpret: Often used for spoken language or explaining meaning.
• Render: To express in another language or artistic form.
• Convert: To change from one form, function, or system to another.
• Paraphrase: To express the meaning using different words, especially for clarity.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Translate into: To result in or be converted into something.
  • Careful planning translates into a successful event.

Related Idioms

• Lost in translation: Meaning or nuance that is not successfully conveyed when moved from one language or context to another.
  • The joke's humor was lost in translation.

Verb

1. determine the amino-acid sequence of a protein during its synthesis by using information on the messenger RNA
2. 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?
3. subject to movement in which every part of the body moves parallel to and the same distance as every other point on the body
4. be translatable, or be translatable in a certain way
   • poetry often does not translate
   • Tolstoy's novels translate well into English
5. be equivalent in effect
   • the growth in income translates into greater purchasing power
6. change the position of (figures or bodies) in space without rotation
7. bring to a certain spiritual state
8. make sense of a language
   • She understands French
   • Can you read Greek?
9. change from one form or medium into another
   • Braque translated collage into oil
10. 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.