translate meaning and definition

TRANSLATE verb

Definition of translate (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: interpret, render
2. change from one form or medium into another
   • "Braque translated collage into oil"
   • synonyms: transform
3. make sense of a language
   • "She understands French"; "Can you read Greek?"
   • synonyms: interpret, read, understand
4. bring to a certain spiritual state
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's novels translate well into English"
8. 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 language
   • "Can you translate the instructions in this manual for a layman?"; "Is there a need to translate the psychiatrist's remarks?"
10. determine the amino-acid sequence of a protein during its synthesis by using information on the messenger RNA