transmit
Americanverb (used with object)
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transmits,
present (3rd person singular)
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transmitted,
past participle, past
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transmitting
present participle
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to send or forward, as to a recipient or destination; dispatch; convey.
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to communicate, as information or news.
- Synonyms:
- bear
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to pass or spread (disease, infection, etc.) to another.
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to pass on (a genetic characteristic) from parent to offspring.
The mother transmitted her red hair to her daughter.
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Physics.
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to cause (light, heat, sound, etc.) to pass through a medium.
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to convey or pass along (an impulse, force, motion, etc.).
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to permit (light, heat, etc.) to pass through.
Glass transmits light.
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Radio and Television. to emit (electromagnetic waves).
verb (used without object)
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transmits,
present (3rd person singular)
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transmitted,
past participle, past
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transmitting
present participle
-
to send a signal by wire, radio, or television waves.
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to pass on a right or obligation to heirs or descendants.
verb
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(tr) to pass or cause to go from one place or person to another; transfer
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(tr) to pass on or impart (a disease, infection, etc)
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(tr) to hand down to posterity
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(tr; usually passive) to pass (an inheritable characteristic) from parent to offspring
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to allow the passage of (particles, energy, etc)
radio waves are transmitted through the atmosphere
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to send out (signals) by means of radio waves or along a transmission line
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to broadcast (a radio or television programme)
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(tr) to transfer (a force, motion, power, etc) from one part of a mechanical system to another
Synonym Usage
See carry.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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transmittalnoun
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pretransmitverb (used with object)
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retransmitverb (used with object)
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nontransmittibleadjective
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transmittableadjective
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transmittibleadjective
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untransmittedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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transmitsimple
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transmitssimple
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have transmittedperfect
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has transmittedperfect
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am transmittingprogressive
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are transmittingprogressive
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is transmittingprogressive
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have been transmittingperfect progressive
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has been transmittingperfect progressive
Past
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transmittedsimple
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had transmittedperfect
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was transmittingprogressive
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were transmittingprogressive
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had been transmittingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of transmit
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English transmitten, from Latin trānsmittere “to send across,” from trāns- trans- + mittere “to send”
Explanation
If you’re an international spy, you might transmit secret messages using a special code written in invisible ink. If you aren’t a spy, you could probably just use email. Whatever your circumstances, when you transmit information, you send. You can transmit things from person to person or from one thing to another. The airwaves can be used to transmit radio or TV signals, for example, and computers can transmit messages over a network. This verb often describes messages or data being sent, but you can also transmit ideas, beliefs, or attitude. In addition, transmit can describe the spread of disease, like mosquitoes that can transmit disease when they bite.
Vocabulary lists containing transmit
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Send a Message: Mit and Miss
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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.
See Examples For:
But land use attorneys Matthew McKerley and Richard Frank, in another op-ed, say many modern data centers fit the bill because they house equipment used to transmit consumer data to and from the internet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
Although the researchers have demonstrated that the plasma filament can transmit radio waves, its ability to receive signals and operate across a broad range of frequencies still needs to be tested.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2026
"Pneumonic plague can transmit from person to person and that is why there is the concern around this," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
His competitor, George Westinghouse, was developing AC, which could transmit electricity economically over much greater distances than Edison’s low-voltage DC.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
The fluorescent lights transmit conversations from passing cars on Broadway.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
Michael O’Donnell praises “Alexander’s Feast” as a tale of Cold War espionage and intellectual combat that transmits “the chill in Europe as the Iron Curtain descended.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
The deputy prime minister said it transmits internet traffic through Poland to countries including Ukraine, and uses SpaceX systems that provide connectivity via Starlink terminals.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
The shipping route, which handles five percent of global maritime trade, will cut the number of daily transmits from 36 to 34 from September 3, and to 32 later in the month.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
The system places a nonlinear waveguide between two optical filters, each of which transmits a different portion of the light spectrum.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026
He tells me to be careful, and that he will be monitoring anything that transmits through my microphone.
From "Legend" by Marie Lu
The California Department of Public Health reports that West Nile virus activity in the state, which is transmitted from infected mosquitoes, has reached a five-year high, with over 250 cases to date and 19 fatalities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
An infected animal can pass rabies to another animal or to a person through its bite, but that’s not the only way it can be transmitted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The researchers say the findings highlight the importance of preventing infections that can be transmitted to a fetus during pregnancy.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
Littlejohns also points out that multiple data streams can be transmitted down the same channel to create more capacity.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
The Iliad and Odyssey were composed and transmitted by nonliterate bards for nonliterate listeners, and not committed to writing until the development of the Greek alphabet hundreds of years later.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
It stopped transmitting at 16:37, a few miles north east of Drymen in Stirling.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
In March 2000, as the bubble burst, shares of companies in the business of transmitting data, or networking, plummeted too.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
The lawsuit alleges people wearing the smart glasses were unwittingly transmitting data to Meta whenever they used Meta AI by saying “Hey Meta,” or sometimes accidentally when adjusting the glasses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Generating many frequencies simultaneously could be far more useful because each could potentially serve as a separate channel for transmitting information at the same time.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Sedentary farmers become surrounded not only by their feces but also by disease transmitting rodents, attracted by the farmers’ stored food.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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