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

So with a week to go of the transfer window and with further attacking signings expected at Anfield, perhaps the writing is on the wall.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

The technology transfer, though, doesn’t address one of Kyiv’s biggest problems, which is finding the cash to build such missiles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

Osgood creates designs that she has a Montreal-based company transfer onto pillows the couple sells in their store.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

It is unclear whether the Louisiana ruling covering Hendrick’s transfer will be contested.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

The county jails where Walter had been housed before his transfer were awful.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Satellites can help identify ships at berths in the Gulf and then in areas beyond the strait where ship-to-ship transfers occur.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

Several years ago he became increasingly frustrated with the professionalism that has overtaken the larger Southland high schools — he has been outspoken against the constant stream of transfers — so he had an idea.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

They’re direct transfers from IRAs to charities, up to $111,000 annually.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026

The US leader listed several activities that he said needed to stop immediately: "oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies".

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

Sasha’s bus ride to and from Maybeck High School took an hour and involved as many as two transfers, but Sasha didn’t mind.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater

And even after Ellis transferred to James Madison following his sophomore season, he moved 23 miles closer to home.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

When honeybee queens are exposed to pesticides over time, some of those chemicals can accumulate in their bodies and then be transferred into their eggs.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was transferred back to jail on Friday, authorities said, hours after the popular politician was taken to hospital for court-ordered medical checks.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

More than 23,000 people have been transferred to third-party countries, many of whom have no legal or personal ties to their new home, the groups said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Brother Yam kept a schedule of the boats that docked at the base of the mountain in case a sick villager needed to be transferred to the hospital in the city.

From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat

A fresh wave of businesses is considering transferring their rights to potential tariff-refund payouts, the WSJ’s Jennifer Williams writes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

Researchers still do not know how long queens can continue transferring contaminants into their eggs, what the long-term consequences may be for the colony, or whether the process differs depending on the pesticide involved.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

According to interviews and internal emails reviewed by ProPublica, career staffers at the Justice Department warned that transferring voter rolls to HSI to enable it to search for noncitizen voters could violate federal privacy laws.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

Zambia has a long record of transferring power through the ballot box, with every change of president since the return to multiparty politics in 1991 achieved through elections.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

“I’m transferring to Reardan. I want you to come with me.”

From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie

Related Words

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