transact

American  

[tran-sakt, -zakt] / trænˈsækt, -ˈzækt /

verb (used with object)

• transacts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• transacted,
  past participle,  past
• transacting
  present participle

1. to carry on or conduct (business, negotiations, activities, etc.) to a conclusion or settlement.

   Synonyms:

   negotiate, manage, settle, conclude, enact

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verb (used without object)

• transacts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• transacted,
  past participle,  past
• transacting
  present participle

1. to carry on or conduct business, negotiations, etc..

   He was ordered to transact only with the highest authorities.

transact British  

/ trænˈzækt /

verb

1. to do, conduct, or negotiate (business, a deal, etc)

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Synonym Usage

See perform.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• transactor
  noun
• pretransact
  verb (used with object)
• untransacted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• transacting
  present
• transacted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• transact
  simple
• transacts
  simple
• have transacted
  perfect
• has transacted
  perfect
• am transacting
  progressive
• are transacting
  progressive
• is transacting
  progressive
• have been transacting
  perfect progressive
• has been transacting
  perfect progressive

Past

• transacted
  simple
• had transacted
  perfect
• was transacting
  progressive
• were transacting
  progressive
• had been transacting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will transact
  simple
• will have transacted
  perfect
• will be transacting
  progressive
• will have been transacting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of transact

First recorded in 1575–85; from Latin trānsāctus (past participle of trānsigere “to carry out, accomplish”), equivalent to trāns- “across, beyond, through” + ag(ere) “to drive, lead” + -tus past participle suffix; see trans-

Explanation

The verb transact is almost always used with the word "business." To transact business is to conduct it, as when a shopkeeper sells groceries to a customer. All kinds of business owners and workers transact business, just by following their usual routines of selling, buying, investing, trading, or anything else they do to carry out their work. Shoppers also participate in transacting business — a purchase can also be called a transaction. The Latin root word, transactus, means "to drive through or accomplish."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

transact transacts transacted transacting

The pickup in sales last month is a reminder that many buyers are ready to transact when supply expands and affordability conditions ease.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026

It adds that employees should never use confidential or material, nonpublic information to transact.

From Barron's ● May 7, 2026

Morehead’s thesis is that as AI becomes more widely used, the rise of autonomous agents may eventually need digitally native ways to transact.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 28, 2026

“He did not transact any business for Epstein after we fired him as a client in 2013.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026

Other Koreans depended on him to find good deals and transact them.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

That could jeopardize a trading relationship worth some $300 billion a year, just slightly less than Japan transacts with the U.S.

From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026

“We are hearing that we are not just clients or countries that one transacts with, we want to be partners, and that’s certainly the spirit with which we are engaging them,” he said.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 10, 2022

But it still transacts based on those stories, based on what it could become, based on what it intends to do, based on what it, in theory, might do in the future.

From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2022

Meanwhile, BlockFi, a company that offers traditional banking services such as loans and interest-bearing accounts but transacts in cryptocurrency, this summer was targeted by regulators in five states that accused it of selling unregistered securities.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 2, 2021

Standard Oil, the seller of oil to the people, transacts its business as does any other corporation.

From Frenzied Finance Vol. 1: The Crime of Amalgamated by Lawson, Thomas William

The U.S. is able to stop countries from paying Iran for oil because almost all global oil deals are transacted in dollars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

A huge portion of such fraud is transacted in cryptocurrency.

From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2025

It was a pay-as-you-go operation transacted in US dollars.

From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2023

The majority of CLO deals are transacted in over the counter trading.

From Reuters ● Nov. 18, 2022

We may be sure, however, that this exportation is transacted not simply for the emoluments of sale, but for the instruction of awful example.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

These networks operate like eBay with users transacting directly and the operator taking a cut of transactions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

She is accused of breaching US sanctions against Iran, which prohibit US persons from transacting or dealing in Iranian goods or services without authorisation.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026

If there are enough buyers and sellers transacting, that market is efficient.

From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025

By the 1930s, courts were interpreting the law as having a sort of implied health exception that applied to physicians and those transacting with them.

From Slate ● Nov. 17, 2023

We wish merely to remind the reader that his period of power having come to a close, little good had been done, except, perhaps, improving the method of transacting public business.

From The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 2, September, 1851 by Various