transpose

American  

[trans-pohz, trans-pohz] / trænsˈpoʊz, ˈtræns poʊz /

verb (used with object)

• transposes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• transposed,
  past participle,  past
• transposing
  present participle

1. to change the relative position, order, or sequence of; cause to change places; interchange.

   to transpose the third and fourth letters of a word.

   Synonyms:

   rearrange

2. to transfer or transport.

3. Algebra. to bring (a term) from one side of an equation to the other, with corresponding change of sign.

   Synonyms:

   invert

4. Mathematics. (of a matrix) to interchange rows and columns.

5. Music. to reproduce in a different key, by raising or lowering in pitch.

   Synonyms:

   rearrange

6. to transform; transmute.

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verb (used without object)

• transposes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• transposed,
  past participle,  past
• transposing
  present participle

1. to perform a piece of music in a key other than the one in which it is written.

   to transpose at sight.

noun

1. Mathematics. a matrix formed from a given matrix by transposing.

transpose British  

/ trænsˈpəʊz /

verb

1. (tr) to alter the positions of; interchange, as words in a sentence; put into a different order

2. music

   1. to play (notes, music, etc) in a different key from that originally intended

   2. to move (a note or series of notes) upwards or downwards in pitch

3. (tr) maths to move (a term) from one side of an equation to the other with a corresponding reversal in sign

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noun

1. maths the matrix resulting from interchanging the rows and columns of a given matrix

transpose Scientific  

/ trăns-pōz′ /

1. To move a term or quantity from one side of an algebraic equation to the other by adding or subtracting that term to or from both sides. By subtracting 2 from both sides of the equation 2 + x = 4, one can transpose the 2 to the other side, yielding x = 4 − 2, and thus determine that x equals 2.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• transposability
  noun
• transposal
  noun
• transposer
  noun
• nontransposable
  adjective
• nontransposing
  adjective
• transposable
  adjective
• untransposed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• transposing
  present
• transposed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• transpose
  simple
• transposes
  simple
• have transposed
  perfect
• has transposed
  perfect
• am transposing
  progressive
• are transposing
  progressive
• is transposing
  progressive
• have been transposing
  perfect progressive
• has been transposing
  perfect progressive

Past

• transposed
  simple
• had transposed
  perfect
• was transposing
  progressive
• were transposing
  progressive
• had been transposing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will transpose
  simple
• will have transposed
  perfect
• will be transposing
  progressive
• will have been transposing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of transpose

1350–1400; Middle English transposen to transmute < Middle French transposer. See trans-, pose ¹

Explanation

If you transpose something, you change the order. You could transpose the phrases in that first sentence by writing, "You change the order if you transpose something." In music, you also transpose when you change the key. When a song is a little high for you, you can transpose it to bring it down into your natural range. In math, to transpose is to move something from one side of an equation to another. In the equation x + 3 = 2y, you can solve for x by transposing the 3 to the other side of the equation, which will change its sign and give you x = 2y - 3.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

transpose transposes transposed transposing

“It was my own personal triumph over dyslexia. When I was drawing up the plans, I kept worrying that I would transpose numbers and screw it all up, but it came out great,” he explained.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

Nicole Eun-Ju Bell’s video and projection designs subtly transpose the setting when, for instance, Umma meets up with her son at church.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2026

In Tyson Louie’s league, the loser has to pose for a portrait that members then transpose into a scene.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025

Kingsolver explained that it was "challenging and also fun to transpose Victorian characters and situations to my own place and time" for her 10th novel.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2023

Because of this, some horn players learn to transpose at sight.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

These are the techniques that Mr. Lerner transposes to his novels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

She starts on plain lined sheets, then she transposes the keepers to “scalloped paper plates.”

From New York Times ● Nov. 15, 2024

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Open Fist Theatre Company transposes the action from ancient Greece to the pre-Civil War South in a provocative reimagining of Shakespeare’s sylvan fantasy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2022

Woolly Mammoth Theatre, too, has embarked on a restart with “Teenage Dick,” a reasonably diverting comedy that transposes “Richard III” to an American high school.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 7, 2021

The unforeseen incident or locality furnishes an apt and speaking image; and the discourse instinctively transposes itself into a higher key.

From The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1 by Daniel Webster

Nor can encounters between Neanderthals and Sapiens be reduced to past loves or wars merely transposed from our modern imagination.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026

The ruthless machinations of Gilded Age robber barons are transposed to New York’s hotels and banquet rooms—a story of love marketed to the highest bidder.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

Once calm, she played a showpiece for him, then transposed the key instantly when he requested.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026

How did that message get transposed onto the middle class?

From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025

That's what is called transposition, because we have merely rearranged or transposed the letters from their original arrangement or order....

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Takuya Otsuki, exhibiting at COHJU, draws on traditional Japanese art in his images, which pare down historical works into isolated, sometimes abstract elements, transposing them in mineral and dyed-mud pigments on hemp paper.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

The transposing of a public role on a nonprofit world over the last year, Lanchance said, is an opportunity to keep the knowledge democratized.

From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2026

But transposing this practice into the realm of climate would require investment, training, and infrastructure.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 6, 2023

Sohn and screenwriters John Hoberg, Kat Likkel and Brenda Hsueh are working well-known, much-beloved stories and tropes, transposing these tales into this fantastical world of humanoid elements.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2023

If you are transposing because the music is too low or too high, decide how much higher or lower you want the music to sound.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones