transfer

American  

[trans-fur, trans-fer, trans-fer] / trænsˈfɜr, ˈtræns fər, ˈtræns fər /

verb (used with object)

• transfers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• transferred,
  past participle,  past
• transferring
  present participle

1. 

   to convey or remove from one place, person, etc., to another.

   He transferred the package from one hand to the other.

2. to cause to pass from one person to another, as thought, qualities, or power; transmit.

3. Law. to make over the possession or control of.

   to transfer a title to land.

4. to imprint, impress, or otherwise convey (a drawing, design, pattern, etc.) from one surface to another.

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verb (used without object)

• transfers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• transferred,
  past participle,  past
• transferring
  present participle

1. to remove oneself from one place to another.

   to transfer from the New York office to London.

2. to withdraw from one school, college, or the like, and enter another.

   I transferred from Rutgers to Tulane.

3. to be moved from one place to another.

   to transfer to overseas duty.

4. to change by means of a transfer from one bus, train, or the like, to another.

noun

• transfers
  plural

1. a means or system of transferring.

2. an act of transferring.

3. the fact of being transferred.

4. a point or place for transferring.

5. a ticket entitling a passenger to continue a journey on another bus, train, or the like.

6. a drawing, design, pattern, or the like, that is or may be transferred from one surface to another, usually by direct contact.

7. a person who changes or is changed from one college, military unit, business department, etc., to another.

8. Law. a conveyance, by sale, gift, or otherwise, of real or personal property, to another.

9. Finance. the act of having the ownership of a stock or registered bond transferred.

10. Also called transfer of training. Psychology. the positive or negative influence of prior learning on subsequent learning.

11. Also called language transfer. Linguistics. the application of native-language rules in attempted performance in a second language, in some cases resulting in deviations from target-language norms and in other cases facilitating second-language acquisition.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or involving transfer payments.

transfer British  

verb

1. to change or go or cause to change or go from one thing, person, or point to another

   they transferred from the Park Hotel to the Imperial

   she transferred her affections to her dog

2. to change (buses, trains, etc)

3. law to make over (property, etc) to another; convey

4. to displace (a drawing, design, etc) from one surface to another

5. (of a football player, esp a professional) to change clubs or (of a club, manager, etc) to sell or release (a player) to another club

6. to leave one school, college, etc, and enrol at another

7. to change (the meaning of a word, etc), esp by metaphorical extension

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noun

1. the act, process, or system of transferring, or the state of being transferred

2. 1. a person or thing that transfers or is transferred

   2. ( as modifier )

      a transfer student

3. a design or drawing that is transferred from one surface to another, as by ironing a printed design onto cloth

4. law the passing of title to property or other right from one person to another by act of the parties or by operation of law; conveyance

5. finance

   1. the act of transferring the title of ownership to shares or registered bonds in the books of the issuing enterprise

   2. ( as modifier )

      transfer deed

      transfer form

6. any document or form effecting or regulating a transfer

7. a ticket that allows a passenger to change routes

Usage

Where does transfer come from? Transfer is an excellent example of how a little knowledge of Latin can go a long way. Transfer entered English around 1350–40. It ultimately derives from the Latin verb trānsferre, which principally meant “to carry or bring across.” The verb is composed of two parts. The first part is trāns-, a prefix based on the adverb and preposition trāns, meaning “across, beyond, through.” The second part is ferre, a verb meaning “to bear, carry,” among many other senses. The English verb bear, as in “bearing a load,” is actually an etymological cousin to the Latin ferre. Trāns- and ferre appear in many other English words. Let’s start with ferre. Prefer comes from the Latin praeferre, “to bear or set before” (learn more at pre-, preference). Refer comes from the Latin referre, “to bring back” (re-, reference). Infer comes from inferre, “to bring in” (in-, inference). This next origin may put a new spin on the word for you: suffer comes from sufferre, literally “to bear under,” with suf- a variant of sub- “under.” Defer and deference ultimately comes from—slight curveball here—differre, “to bear apart, carry away.” Differre is also the source of differ, different, and difference. Now for trāns-. Trāns- was incredibly productive in Latin. That means it was used to produce many new words, especially verbs (and their related forms) that have made their way into English, including:

• transact
• transcend
• transcribe
• transfigure
• transfix
• transform
• transfuse
• transmit
• transpire

Does knowing that trāns- means “across, beyond, through” shed any new light on what these words mean?Some other common words directly derived from Latin and featuring trāns- are transit, translucent, and transparent. Trāns-, naturalized as trans-, is also very productive in English. Some familiar examples include transconintental, trans-fat, and transgender. Dig deeper Translate is another word related to transfer—and not just because they both feature the trans- prefix. Now, English has irregular verbs: saw is the past tense of see, for instance, and bought is the past tense of buy. Latin had irregular verbs, too, as do many other languages. Without getting too technical, the verb ferre (meaning, if you’ll recall, “to carry”) formed past tenses based on tulī (“I carried”), and formed part participles based on lātus. That means translate is derived from the past participle form of transfer: trānslātus, literally “carried across,” as in a text that has been copied over. Isn’t it wild how so many words are related? Yep, relate—along with relationship, relation, and many other words—comes from the past participle form of referre (“to carry back,” source of refer), which was relātus.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nontransferability
  noun
• retransfer
  noun
• transferability
  noun
• transferrer
  noun
• retransfer
  verb (used with object)
• nontransferable
  adjective
• transferable
  adjective
• transferrable
  adjective
• untransferable
  adjective
• untransferred
  adjective
• untransferring
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• transfers
  plural

Participles

• transferring
  present
• transferred
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• transfer
  simple
• transfers
  simple
• have transferred
  perfect
• has transferred
  perfect
• am transferring
  progressive
• are transferring
  progressive
• is transferring
  progressive
• have been transferring
  perfect progressive
• has been transferring
  perfect progressive

Past

• transferred
  simple
• had transferred
  perfect
• was transferring
  progressive
• were transferring
  progressive
• had been transferring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will transfer
  simple
• will have transferred
  perfect
• will be transferring
  progressive
• will have been transferring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of transfer

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English transferren, from Latin trānsferre, from trāns trans- + ferre “to bring, carry”; see also bear ¹

Explanation

If you are moving something from one place to another, like transferring money from your savings account to your checking account, you are transferring it. Or, if you've been moved from one job site to another — you, my friend, have been transferred. Transfer can also be a noun that means the act of moving something from one form or location to another, so that money that was shifted from one account to another is considered a transfer. If you change something from one form to another, you can say that you transferred it. "Her mother had transferred all the old 8mm home movies to video tape. Now she'd have to transfer them again using a more modern technology."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

transfer transfers transferred transferring

"A specifically designed coating could, in the future, facilitate this transfer and the interaction between mitochondria and cells," emphasizes Dr. Tiranti.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

Around 220 jobs will transfer mainly from its technology unit to the country units, it added.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

A judge has restricted his transfer and temporarily blocked his deportation while his legal challenge proceeds.

From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026

Referencing a landmark 1995 court ruling that is credited with revolutionising the football transfer market in Europe, he said he hoped reining in non-compete clauses could prove the "Bosman ruling for the innovation sector".

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

All the containers have been moved near the entrance ramp for a transfer to the surface that will not happen now.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

However, it is possible for consumers to build the same structured saving habits on their own — and earn significantly more interest — simply by setting up automated transfers to a dedicated high-yield savings account.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

"What transfers to humans isn't the map, it's the method, and the fact that we now know that a healthy brain has a very organized lipid map at all," says Luca Fusar Bassini.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

Texas splurged on high-profile transfers such as receiver Cam Coleman and running back Hollywood Smothers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026

In all cases though, the transfers included significant sell-on and buy-back clauses, which is part of a strategy by United to generate more revenue from player sales.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

The Dauntless-born initiates and the transfers were separated during stage one, but we will be training together from now on.

From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth

In several important reaction steps, hydrogen could be transferred to intermediate chemical compounds directly as molecular H2, rather than only through separate hydrogen atoms.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

The Sheriff’s Department typically houses mentally ill prisoners at the Twin Towers, but Magaña’s family claims he was not transferred to a specialized unit within the jail that deals with more challenging cases.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

"Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others," it said in a statement.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Belgal’s attorneys said he was transferred to New Jersey after the shooting before being returned to federal detention in Brooklyn.

From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026

UBS was holding some $3 million of his assets, originally deposited there in 1992, and wanted to know to which bank in Iceland Bobby wished his investments transferred.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

They also want better social and educational programs, as well as a reduction in the inmate population from over 6,500 to 4,000 -- driven by quicker court proceedings and transferring people to other units.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

"Proper assessment of the risks and consideration of work methods, adequate staffing and clear procedures for transferring towers between teams could have enabled this work to go ahead without incident," Gidman added.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

In September, most of the crude that crossed the Strait of Hormuz went via tankers transferring their oil to ships waiting off the coast of the U.A.E. and Oman, according to Kpler.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

In one experiment, transferring microbiota from mice that received a mulberry preparation to other animals was associated with improvements in some metabolic disturbances.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

Johnny’s brother—we ended up transferring him from Doolittle because of the way kids are—kids can be very cruel!

From "Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago" by LeAlan Jones

Related Words

• assign
• bring
• carry
• cede
• change
• convert
• deliver
• dispatch
• ferry
• find
• give
• hand over
• move
• pass on
• provide
• relocate
• remove
• sell
• send
• shift