transpose

[trans-pohz, trans-pohz]

verb (used with object)

transposed, transposing 

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.

verb (used without object)

transposed, transposing 

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

/ 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

noun

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

transpose

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.

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of transpose¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of transpose¹

C14: from Old French transposer , from Latin transpōnere to remove, from _trans- + pōnere to place

Example Sentences

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

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The danger of the Christian nationalist worldview is that it raises the stakes of political contests exponentially, transposing political opponents into existential enemies.

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“But our Giselle was transposed out of Austria to the bayous of Louisiana, so it made it relevant to us at the time.”

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So I went in and I looked at the house and I walked around and looked at the patterns and colors Sarah put in there, and got those transposed from the wall to the dress.”

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It was easy to transpose that resentment from these fictional, historical figures to the bad actors who stole my big brother’s last breath on a cross of labored breath built years before we were born.

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