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

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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

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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

Balance-transfer cards allow borrowers to transfer a balance on an existing card to a new one, many of which offer 0% interest for a set period of time, usually 12 to 18 months.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

Understanding these processes could improve scientific models of how shock waves transfer energy, heat particles, and shape environments across the universe.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026

She would later transfer to the University of Texas, where she received multiple awards for drama.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

The 55-year-old is not in charge of transfer budgets, which are set at a higher level.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

To make hybrids, Mendel had to first neuter each flower by snipping off the anthers—emasculating it—and then transfer the orange blush of pollen from one flower to another.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

During their double drop descent, Wolves - who remarkably suffered a treble drop to the bottom tier in the 1980s - burned through four managers and made a series of poor transfers.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

It mainly bars rules around property sales and transfers that would restrict solar.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

Research on cash transfers is encouraging, Wolfolds said, but "the harder challenge may be identifying who has been affected by AI."

From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026

Of the 20 most expensive transfers completed in the summer only six were not to clubs in the English top flight.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

The Dauntless- born initiates are used to doing this by now, so in a second it’s just faction transfers left.

From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth

But consumers should be aware that many of these cards charge an upfront fee of 3% to 5% of the total amount transferred.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

“I had never seen anything like it, in college or the NFL,” said Chiles, who transferred to Northwestern in January specifically to play for Kelly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

Carnegie transferred what remained into a trust, which has continued to make grants for more than a century.

From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026

Files from a hard drive in a safe were transferred to an external hard drive in October 2019 and January 2020, around the time when Strange was working at the studio.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

And now the Boss directed the lifeboats, equipment, and stores to be transferred onto the ice beside Endurance.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

Department staffing records show that Gutierrez, 30, joined the force in March 2022 and previously worked in Newton Division in South L.A. before transferring to Foothill Division in the Valley.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

"Some volunteers have already begun the process of transferring to other locations."

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

Other ideas include transferring Iran’s enriched uranium stocks to Russia, they said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

Within just three days, researchers observed algae transferring into the damaged fragments.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

Zara squeals, transferring the squirming ball of black fluff into Jonah’s arms.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

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Related Words

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

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