transplant

American  

[trans-plant, -plahnt, trans-plant, -plahnt] / trænsˈplænt, -ˈplɑnt, ˈtrænsˌplænt, -ˌplɑnt /

verb (used with object)

1. to remove (a plant) from one place and plant it in another.

2. Surgery. to transfer (an organ, tissue, etc.) from one part of the body to another or from one person or animal to another.

3. to move from one place to another.

4. to bring (a family, colony, etc.) from one country, region, etc., to another for settlement; relocate.

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verb (used without object)

1. to undergo or accept transplanting.

   to transplant easily.

noun

1. the act or process of transplanting.

2. a plant, organ, person, etc., that has been transplanted.

transplant British  

verb

1. (tr) to remove or transfer (esp a plant) from one place to another

2. (intr) to be capable of being transplanted

3. surgery to transfer (an organ or tissue) from one part of the body to another or from one person or animal to another during a grafting or transplant operation

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noun

1. surgery

   1. the procedure involved in such a transfer

   2. the organ or tissue transplanted

transplant Scientific  

/ trăns′plănt′ /

1. A plant that has been uprooted and replanted.

2. A surgical procedure in a human or animal in which a body tissue or organ is transferred from a donor to a recipient or from one part of the body to another. Heart, lung, liver, kidney, corneal, and bone-marrow transplants are performed to treat life-threatening illness. Donated tissue must be histocompatible with that of the recipient to prevent immunological rejection.

3. See also graft

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Other Word Forms

• retransplant
  verb (used with object)
• retransplantation
  noun
• transplantable
  adjective
• transplantation
  noun
• transplanter
  noun
• untransplanted
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of transplant

1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin trānsplantāre, equivalent to Latin trāns- trans- + plantāre to plant

Explanation

Use the verb transplant to describe what you do when you move a cactus into a bigger container, or what a doctor does when she places a donor organ — like a kidney or lung — into the body of a patient. When you transplant your favorite rose bush, you carefully dig it up and re-plant it in another spot in the yard, maybe one that gets more sunlight. You can also use the word as a noun to describe the act of doing such a thing: "The liver transplant was a success." The word's origin is simple: the Latin trans, or "across," plus plantare, which means "to plant."

Example Sentences

"It's like being at a resort on a full-time basis," says North Carolina transplant Betty Brock, 79.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

Politics, says North Carolina transplant Brock, does come up, but "not as much as you think, because you don't ever know where that line is".

From BBC • May 1, 2026

Advances in cryopreservation extend far beyond transplant medicine.

From Science Daily • Apr. 27, 2026

Apple’s own Siri, which is set to get an AI brain transplant this year, has been a neanderthal by comparison.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

I have been on a transplant list for over six months, and I probably only have a few years left to live unless I receive new lungs.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

Related Words

• emigrate
• graft
• immigrate
• remove
• uproot