transcription
Americannoun
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the act or process of transcribing.
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something transcribed.
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a transcript; copy.
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Music.
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the arrangement of a composition for a medium other than that for which it was originally written.
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a composition so arranged.
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Radio and Television. a recording made especially for broadcasting.
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Genetics. the process by which genetic information on a strand of DNA is used to synthesize a strand of complementary RNA.
noun
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the act or an instance of transcribing or the state of being transcribed
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something transcribed
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a representation in writing of the actual pronunciation of a speech sound, word, or piece of continuous text, using not a conventional orthography but a symbol or set of symbols specially designated as standing for corresponding phonetic values
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The process in a cell by which genetic material is copied from a strand of DNA to a complementary strand of RNA (called messenger RNA). In eukaryotes, transcription takes place in the nucleus before messenger RNA is transported to the ribosomes for protein synthesis.
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Compare translation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of transcription
First recorded in 1590–1600, transcription is from the Latin word trānscrīptiōn- (stem of trānscrīptiō ). See transcript, -ion
Explanation
A transcription is the document made by copying down in writing something that you listen to, like audio tapes, an interview, or comments made during a meeting. If you watch TV crime dramas, you’ve probably seen someone take a transcription while cops interview a suspect — that person is writing down all the things that are said. Transcription can also refer to the process of transcribing. If you’re a musician, you probably know that transcription can also describe adapting a piece of music for different instruments, like a cello transcription of a Beatles song.
Vocabulary lists containing transcription
The Write Stuff: Scrib, Script
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Genetics - High School
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STAAR Biology: Mechanisms of Genetics
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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.
A.I. transcription has gotten extremely good in the past few years and has taken a notable step forward over the past several months.
From Slate • May 24, 2026
I sometimes use the transcription platform Rev, which offers an A.I. transcript you can scrub through along with the audio.
From Slate • May 24, 2026
Scientists from NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center found that a key protein, known as the transcription factor HOXD13, plays a central role in melanoma.
From Science Daily • Apr. 21, 2026
The narrator creates a small scandal by jokingly telling the story of his transcription blunder.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
Moments later the two of them were in Mr. Curtain’s office, poring over a chart of Morse code, hastily scrawling a transcription of the distant honks.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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.
