translator
nounUS /ˈtɹænzleɪtɚ/ · UK /ˈtɹanzleɪtə/
Etymology Directly from Latin trānslātor and French translator, and also from Middle English translatour, from Old French translatour, translateur, etc., from Latin trānslātor, from trānslātus (“carried across”) + -or (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from trānsferō (“carry across”), from trans (“across”) + ferō (“bear, carry”), q.v. Equivalent to translate + -or.
12 senses
- 1A person or thing that translates various forms of text.
- 2Synonym of interpreter, a person or thing that…
- 3A person or thing that expresses an idea or style in a…
- 4A machine that converts inputs into a pattern of holes…
- 5A relay station that retransmits incoming television…
- 6A program that converts commands from one computer…
- 7Synonym of carrier, a person who transports something…
- 8Synonym of repairer, particularly of leather or cloth goods.
- 9A used and repaired shoe, boot, or other item of clothing.
- 10Synonym of repeater, a thing that automatically…
- 11A thing that converts energy from one form to another.
- 12The retinaculum of asclepiads.
› A person or thing that translates meaning…
A person or thing that translates various forms of text.
Proscribed, Sometimes Synonym of interpreter, a person or thing that immediately interprets direct speech.
- "You don't believe the Soviet Union is going to reduce its defense budget, do you?" Boggs asked. Premier Chou didn't wait for the translator to finish. "Never, never, never," he replied in perfect English.1980, Gerald Ford, “Boyhood—and Beyond”, in A Time to Heal, New York: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 95:
Figuratively A person or thing that expresses an idea or style in a new form or medium.
- Mr. C. Blair Leighton... lithographer... was one of the earliest translators of water and oil pictures by the chromatic process.1855 June, Gentleman's Magazine, number 657, page 1:
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences Historical A machine that converts inputs into a pattern of holes on a punch card.
US A relay station that retransmits incoming television signals after automatically adjusting their frequency to avoid interference.
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A program that converts commands from one computer language into another.
Obsolete Synonym of carrier, a person who transports something, now particularly (Roman Catholicism, rare) holy relics.
- ... the translator of the life and miracles of the saints, like the translator of the relics, need not have been "literate"; nor did he have to be a clerk.2019, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Images of Sainthood in Medieval Europe, page 100:
Historical Synonym of repairer, particularly of leather or cloth goods.
- Boots and Shoes are not to be had, I am told, in sufficient quantity for the demand from the slop-shops, the "translators," and the second-hand dealers. Great quantities of second-hand boots and shoes are sent to Ireland to be "translated" there.1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, page 33:
Historical, Slang A used and repaired shoe, boot, or other item of clothing.
Obsolete Synonym of repeater, a thing that automatically retransmits an incoming message along a telegraph line.
Obsolete A thing that converts energy from one form to another.
- Synonyms
- dubash, interpreter
- Derived terms
- cotranslator, fanslator, Fortran, machine translator, piezotranslator, pretranslator, scanlator, translatorese, translatorial, translatorship, translatress
- Related terms
- transfer, translate, translation, translatory
- Hyponyms
- machine translator