translateverb [ I or T ]
uk/trænzˈleɪt//trænsˈleɪt/us/trænsˈleɪt//trænzˈleɪt/B1 to change words into a different language:
We were asked to translate a list of sentences.
She works for the UN, translating from English into French.
Compare
interpret
C2 to change something into a new form, especially to turn a plan into something real:
So how does this theory translate into practical policy?
The ways of working that he had learned at college did not translate well (= were not suitable) to the world of business.
translate sth as sth
to decide that words, behaviour, or actions mean a particular thing:
He mumbled something which I translated as agreement.
More examples
- You'll lose marks if you translate too literally .
- It is a difficult passage, but just translate it as best you can.
- Her novels have been translated into sixteen languages.
- It can be very difficult to translate idioms.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Using other languages
- anglophone
- code switching
- diglossia
- first language
- francophone
- interpret
- linguist
- lusophone
- machine translation
- modern languages
- monolingual
- multilingual
- native
- non-native speaker
- pinyin
- polyglot
- speak
- translation
- trilingual
- word
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Change and changes
Typifying, illustrating and exemplifying