transcribe
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make a written copy, especially a typewritten copy, of (dictated material, notes taken during a lecture, or other spoken material).
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to make an exact copy of (a document, text, etc.).
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to write out in another language or alphabet; translate or transliterate.
to transcribe Chinese into English characters.
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Phonetics. to represent (speech sounds) in written phonetic or phonemic symbols.
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Radio. to make a recording of (a program, announcement, etc.) for broadcasting.
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Music. to arrange (a composition) for a medium other than that for which it was originally written.
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Genetics. to effect genetic transcription of (a DNA molecule template).
verb
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to write, type, or print out fully from speech, notes, etc
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to make a phonetic transcription of
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to transliterate or translate
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to make an electrical recording of (a programme or speech) for a later broadcast
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music to rewrite (a piece of music) for an instrument or medium other than that originally intended; arrange
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computing
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to transfer (information) from one storage device, such as punched cards, to another, such as magnetic tape
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to transfer (information) from a computer to an external storage device
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(usually passive) biochem to convert the genetic information in (a strand of DNA) into a strand of RNA, esp messenger RNA See also genetic code translate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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transcribernoun
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mistranscribeverb (used with object)
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pretranscribeverb (used with object)
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retranscribeverb (used with object)
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nontranscribingadjective
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transcribableadjective
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untranscribedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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transcribesimple
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transcribessimple
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have transcribedperfect
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has transcribedperfect
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am transcribingprogressive
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are transcribingprogressive
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is transcribingprogressive
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have been transcribingperfect progressive
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has been transcribingperfect progressive
Past
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transcribedsimple
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had transcribedperfect
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was transcribingprogressive
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were transcribingprogressive
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had been transcribingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of transcribe
First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin trānscrībere “to copy off,” literally, “to write across,” from trāns- trans- + scrībere “to write” ( see scribe 1)
Explanation
If someone asks you to transcribe something, they want you to listen to it and write down what was said, word for word. Speeches, interviews, and trials are often transcribed for records. From the Latin transcribere, which means “to copy, write over, or transfer,” the verb transcribe means just that: to write out a copy. You might want to transcribe a recording of an interview onto paper, or maybe you need to transcribe all the notes you collected from an important meeting. If you can remember that trans means “over” and that a scribe is a writer, you shouldn’t forget this word. Fun fact: to transcribe poorly is to transcribble.
Vocabulary lists containing transcribe
The Write Stuff: Scrib, Script
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"Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan
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The Westing Game
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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:
People in tech use AI apps to record and transcribe meetings, workplace chats and even dates—all in the name of productivity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Grace Parsonage, English Heritage's assistant curator for the South East, said: "It's been a real treat to work through this remarkable collection, alongside our volunteers, to record and transcribe these messages from the past."
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
She didn’t use AI to generate prose, but she did use it to transcribe interviews, edit text and corral data.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
“If the system can’t transcribe you accurately, you get a zero on that question.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
They smuggled shortwave radios into the hills so they could listen to overseas reports, which they would transcribe into their articles.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
It then transcribes the answers and allows recipients to determine whether or not they want to take the call.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026
Dr Mirsa-Sharp started using Heidi Health, a free AI-assisted medical transcription tool that listens and transcribes patient appointments, about four months ago and says it has made a big difference.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2025
A cell transcribes the ORF sequence into messenger RNA, which travels to cellular factories called ribosomes that assemble amino acid sequences into proteins.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 24, 2024
One component is the prime editor, which combines a SpCas9 protein, used in the first CRISPR-Cas gene editing technology, and a reverse transcriptase, an enzyme that transcribes RNA into DNA.
From Science Daily ● May 29, 2024
He transcribes the stories of other rêveurs to include in his writings.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Mr. Ely provides a few sentences of transcribed testimony before analyzing the case’s factual details and deciphering any unusual language from the period.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
The full transcript of the judge's sentencing remarks, which reveal the complex sentencing exercise, were made publicly available after the BBC requested they be transcribed.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Comer’s spokesperson said Bondi was allowed to sit for a transcribed interview, rather than a deposition, because the former attorney general was “cooperative.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
But the first time I transcribed an interview I’d conducted with my breathy, inconsistent voice, I felt like one giant cringe.
From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2026
I sat in on Dr. Bright's service and heard the very sermon I had transcribed at Dewsbury a fortnight before.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
Microsoft also unveiled other in-house models for generating images, transcribing audio, creating synthetic voices and coding.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
I make a lot of phone calls for stories, and meticulously transcribing those interviews has been the bane of my existence since I was in high school.
From Slate ● May 24, 2026
Google is rolling out an AI model to its smart speakers and the Gemini app that understands spoken audio without first transcribing it into text.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026
But after transcribing the poems and looking more closely at them, they were not all they seemed.
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026
I clenched my teeth resolutely, determined not to be caught up in the play again, and set to work transcribing all that had slipped by me before.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
