translation

noun
trans·​la·​tion | \ tran(t)s-ˈlā-shən How to pronounce translation (audio) , tranz-\

Definition of translation

1 : an act, process, or instance of translating: such as
a : a rendering from one language into another also : the product of such a rendering
b : a change to a different substance, form, or appearance : conversion
c(1) : a transformation of coordinates in which the new axes are parallel to the old ones
(2) : uniform motion of a body in a straight line
2 : the process of forming a protein molecule at a ribosomal site of protein synthesis from information contained in messenger RNA — compare transcription sense 3

Keep scrolling for more

Other Words from translation

translational \ tran(t)s-​ˈlā-​shnəl How to pronounce translational (audio) , tranz-​ , -​shə-​nᵊl \ adjective

Synonyms & Antonyms for translation

Synonyms

paraphrase, rephrasing, restatement, restating, rewording, translating

Antonyms

quotation, quote

Visit the Thesaurus for More 

Examples of translation in a Sentence

She is working on a translation of the novel. a new translation of the Iliad There were English translations on the menu. the translation of economic power into political strength
See More

Recent Examples on the Web

How to avoid it: Never accept invitations from strangers, provide translation services or engage with individuals carrying a clipboard. Andrea Sachs, Twin Cities, "10 common travel scams — and how to avoid them," 10 Aug. 2019 The dialogue was often lost in translation and in culture. Los Angeles Times, "One is Chinese. One is American. How a journalist discovered and reunited identical twins," 8 Aug. 2019 Ford spent entire weeks parsing them, using translation services to get to the ones that came from non-English-speaking countries. Arielle Pardes, WIRED, "The Inside Story of Twitter's New Redesign," 15 July 2019 Wang Shouwen, a linguist who rose through the ministry’s translation service, remains the vice minister of commerce for North American affairs after Mr. Yu’s return from Geneva. Keith Bradsher, New York Times, "China Moves to Close Gap in Trade Expertise as Clash With Trump Intensifies," 11 June 2019 Seven years after the team’s breakthrough with voice search, Google’s voice translation service Interpreter does not speak Icelandic. Caitlin Hu, Quartz, "Iceland is inventing a new vocabulary for a high-tech future," 2 June 2019 Some spots, like Google’s ad about its translation service, charmed many viewers. Mae Anderson, The Seattle Times, "Super Bowl ad winners: Bud Light, Amazon," 4 Feb. 2019 Facebook has also added 24 languages to its automatic translation services. Recode Staff, Recode, "Recode Daily: New iPhones and more: It’s Apple launch day," 12 Sep. 2018 Dozens of researchers worldwide have since experimented with GANs for a variety of uses, such as robot control and language translation. Lawrence Greenemeier, Scientific American, "Spot the Fake: Artificial Intelligence Can Produce Lifelike Photographs," 19 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'translation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

See More

First Known Use of translation

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Keep scrolling for more

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for translation

translation

noun

English Language Learners Definition of translation

: words that have been changed from one language into a different language : words that have been translated
: the act or process of translating something into a different language
formal : the act or process of changing something from one form to another

translation

noun
trans·​la·​tion | \ trans-ˈlā-shən How to pronounce translation (audio) \

Kids Definition of translation

: the act, process, or result of changing from one form or language into another

translation

noun
trans·​la·​tion | \ tran(t)s-ˈlā-shən, tranz- How to pronounce translation (audio) \

Medical Definition of translation

: the process of forming a protein molecule at a ribosomal site of protein synthesis from information contained in messenger RNA — compare transcription

Other Words from translation

translational \ -​shnəl, -​shən-​ᵊl How to pronounce translational (audio) \ adjective

Keep scrolling for more