transplant
Americanverb (used with object)
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transplants,
present (3rd person singular)
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transplanted,
past participle, past
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transplanting
present participle
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to remove (a plant) from one place and plant it in another.
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Surgery. to transfer (an organ, tissue, etc.) from one part of the body to another or from one person or animal to another.
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to move from one place to another.
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to bring (a family, colony, etc.) from one country, region, etc., to another for settlement; relocate.
verb (used without object)
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transplants,
present (3rd person singular)
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transplanted,
past participle, past
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transplanting
present participle
noun
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transplants
plural
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the act or process of transplanting.
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a plant, organ, person, etc., that has been transplanted.
verb
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(tr) to remove or transfer (esp a plant) from one place to another
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(intr) to be capable of being transplanted
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surgery to transfer (an organ or tissue) from one part of the body to another or from one person or animal to another during a grafting or transplant operation
noun
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A plant that has been uprooted and replanted.
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A surgical procedure in a human or animal in which a body tissue or organ is transferred from a donor to a recipient or from one part of the body to another. Heart, lung, liver, kidney, corneal, and bone-marrow transplants are performed to treat life-threatening illness. Donated tissue must be histocompatible with that of the recipient to prevent immunological rejection.
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See also graft
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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retransplantationnoun
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transplantationnoun
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transplanternoun
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retransplantverb (used with object)
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transplantableadjective
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untransplantedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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transplantsimple
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transplantssimple
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have transplantedperfect
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has transplantedperfect
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am transplantingprogressive
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are transplantingprogressive
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is transplantingprogressive
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have been transplantingperfect progressive
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has been transplantingperfect progressive
Past
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transplantedsimple
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had transplantedperfect
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was transplantingprogressive
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were transplantingprogressive
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had been transplantingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of transplant
1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin trānsplantāre, equivalent to Latin trāns- trans- + plantāre to plant
Explanation
Use the verb transplant to describe what you do when you move a cactus into a bigger container, or what a doctor does when she places a donor organ — like a kidney or lung — into the body of a patient. When you transplant your favorite rose bush, you carefully dig it up and re-plant it in another spot in the yard, maybe one that gets more sunlight. You can also use the word as a noun to describe the act of doing such a thing: "The liver transplant was a success." The word's origin is simple: the Latin trans, or "across," plus plantare, which means "to plant."
Vocabulary lists containing transplant
“For the Herd’s Sake, Vaccinate" by Steven L. Weinreb
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The Chocolate War
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for January 29–February 4, 2022
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His patient, a young Albanian man, died after a bone marrow transplant in East London.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
I had had a kidney transplant from Phillip Palmer, who’s the morning anchor at ABC7, and it was a really big story back in 2007.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
In separate tests, researchers found that EMR might be able to reverse some chemical-caused cloudiness to the cornea -- a condition that is currently only treatable through a complete corneal transplant.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026
"Obviously, when you've had a transplant, you don't think you're ever going to play again. That's what I thought anyway," Jackson tells BBC Sport.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Had a brain transplant to improve your memory?
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
It’s no surprise that more than a few famous transplants have decided to relocate to this hospitable location.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
In-N-Out is a well-regarded brand, and its classic Americana menu is popular among transplants to Southern states, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
Stem cell transplants may be able to repair damage caused by stroke, according to researchers at the University of Zurich.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
Another benefit of moving to Nevada is the high concentration of transplants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
El Patron, too, had created clones to provide himself with transplants.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
We have begun hosting educational workshops promoting organ donation in memory of an alumnus who was killed—and whose organs have been transplanted in five others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
One week after the strokes were induced, the researchers transplanted the neural stem cells directly into damaged regions of the brain.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
The transplanted pig kidney worked immediately, according to details just published in the Lancet medical journal, external.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
The feat followed trial and error that initially saw him mollycoddle corals in stress-free environments, but those easily perished in the ocean once transplanted.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
The old colonial bungalow with its deep verandah and Doric columns, was surrounded by smaller, older, wooden houses—ancestral homes—that the hotel chain had bought from old families and transplanted in the Heart of Darkness.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Duwai said Naidiri is now transplanting their heat-resistant corals to deeper, cooler waters close to the capital Suva to further protect from future heatwaves.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
It found that direct injection of seeds into the seabed, along with the transplanting of small intact patches of seagrass had delivered the best results.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026
In practice, he argues, many innovations grow out of existing ones, often by borrowing or transplanting concepts from one field to another.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
To isolate each group, the researchers designed an unusual experiment that involved transplanting different types of microglia into mice that lacked microglia entirely.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 13, 2025
She invited my mother over for cards and scrapbooking parties and book club meetings, but Mom was too busy transplanting hearts.
From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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