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

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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-

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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

Fashion specialists tried to add more ways to transact, giving sellers more checks and balances and adding delivery and payment methods to help buyers feel safe.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

In addition, it raises red flags that Treasury is worried something is wrong and Bessent is worried about letting investors transact in the Treasury market, he added.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026

Google Pay and PhonePe can fight fiercely for customers while still allowing their users to transact across the same network.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Shares of SpaceX cooled in the ensuing weeks, but the company's valuation at around $1.5 trillion has been viewed as a potential means to transact a combination between SpaceX and Tesla.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

To stay alive, you have to be able to hold out against equilibrium, maintain imbalance, bank against entropy, and you can only transact this business with membranes in our kind of world.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on the agency, threatening penalties for any shipper that transacts with it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

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

Pringle of Clifton was still alive after all, and in prison for debt, and transacts with Lieutenant Murray, giving security for 7000 marks.”—i.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) by Andrew Lang

The Senate report includes instances where wallets attributed to Iranian entities transacted in USDT.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 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

Platts collects bids, offers and transacted prices for cobalt and molybdenum from buyers and sellers and produces an end-of-day value.

From Reuters ● Jul. 6, 2023

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

“All accounts with any connection to sanctions violations were blocked from transacting, which mitigated the platform risk, and were subsequently offboarded.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The company said that, during the second quarter, its average number of monthly transacting members increased by 17%, reaching 3.08 million.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 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

Ignorant of the means of transacting this humbling business, I had not the courage to expose my poverty, by asking instructions.

From Discipline by Mary Brunton

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