translator

American  

[trans-lay-ter, tranz-, trans-lay-ter, tranz-] / trænsˈleɪ tər, trænz-, ˈtræns leɪ tər, ˈtrænz- /

noun

• translators
  plural

1. Also translater a person who translates.

2. Television. a relay station that receives programming on one frequency and rebroadcasts it at another frequency for improved local reception.

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translator British  

/ trænsˈleɪtə, trænz- /

noun

1. a person or machine that translates speech or writing

2. radio a relay transmitter that retransmits a signal on a carrier frequency different from that on which it was received

3. computing a computer program that converts a program from one language to another

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• translatorial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• translators
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of translator

1350–1400; Middle English translatour (< Middle French ) < Late Latin translātor ( Latin: “one who transfers a thing”); see translate, -tor

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Explanation

A translator is someone who conveys material communicated in one language such as English into another language — like French, Chinese, or Spanish — without losing the literal meaning or nuances of the original work. Ideally, a translator is fluent in at least two languages, so they can translate what is being said in one language into another language without changing its original meaning. The Latin root of translator is translatus, which means "carried over," and a translator who's good at her job carries the meaning over into a completely different language.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

translator translators

"I reject this document entirely," Maduro said in Spanish through a translator.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Anne Carson, the Canadian poet, essayist, professor of classics and translator, has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in literature.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

“Everything is done to the highest order of perfection, and there is thought in every little detail,” the Chinese president said through a translator.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

Cecilia Rosas, a Brazilian researcher and translator of Russian literature, hailed the interest in the classics on social media.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

One precondition for this, of course, was that, like Tartaglia, like Benedetti, like Norman, and like Barozzi’s translator on his behalf, they made no secret of their discoveries.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

But many doctors already know what medicine is like without human translators.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

Oates, who penned the Pulitzer Prize-nominated “Blonde,” said that, within the world of translators, Wilson’s review “seems all the more surprising since all translations are, presumably, subjective & not equivalent to the original text.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

It requires subject experts, translators, reviewers and moderators.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

They are both translators of the quotidian—the poet into art, something felt, the critic into explication, something understood.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

I feel as if I were in the United Nations and the translators had run amok.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

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Related Words

• linguist

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