transpose

[ verb trans-pohz; noun trans-pohz ]

/ verb trænsˈpoʊz; noun ˈtræns poʊz /

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verb (used with object), trans·posed, trans·pos·ing.

to change the relative position, order, or sequence of; cause to change places; interchange: to transpose the third and fourth letters of a word.

to transfer or transport.

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

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

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

to transform; transmute.

verb (used without object), trans·posed, trans·pos·ing.

to perform a piece of music in a key other than the one in which it is written: to transpose at sight.

noun

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

Nearby words

transported, transporter, transporter bridge, transposal, transposase, transpose, transposed conjugate, transposing instrument, transposition, transposition cipher, transposition of great vessels

Origin of transpose

1350–1400; Middle English transposen to transmute < Middle French transposer. See trans-, pose¹

SYNONYMS FOR transpose

1, 5 rearrange.

3 invert.

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Related forms

trans·pos·a·ble, adjectivetrans·pos·a·bil·i·ty, nountrans·pos·er, nounnon·trans·pos·a·ble, adjective

non·trans·pos·ing, adjectiveun·trans·posed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for transpose

These discs, titled Miracle, transpose the invisible concept of ālaya into a tangible object.
Mariko Mori Rebirth at the Japan Society|Justin Jones|October 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
A part of the difficulty of dream telling comes from the fact that we have to transpose these pictures into words.
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis|Sigmund Freud
You may paint a picture in the same pitch as nature, or you may transpose it to a higher or a lower pitch.
The Painter in Oil|Daniel Burleigh Parkhurst
Subsequently I wrote you that, for a private reason, I had concluded to transpose them.
The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Two|Abraham Lincoln

Do not transpose letters; place each letter where it belongs.
The Century Handbook of Writing|Garland Greever
Perhaps, indeed, we might transpose them; for Isabella is speaking quite calmly and composedly.
The Shakespeare-Expositor: An Aid to the Perfect Understanding of Shakespeare's Plays|Thomas Keightley

British Dictionary definitions for transpose

transpose

/ (trænsˈpəʊz) /

verb

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

music

to play (notes, music, etc) in a different key from that originally intended
to move (a note or series of notes) upwards or downwards in pitch

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

noun

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

Derived Forms

transposable, adjectivetransposability, nountransposal, nountransposer, noun

Word Origin for transpose

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for transpose

transpose

[ trăns-pōz′ ]

v.

To transfer one tissue, organ, or part to the place of another.

Science definitions for transpose

transpose

[ trăns-pōz′ ]

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.