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transposition

[trans-puh-zish-uh n]
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noun
  1. an act of transposing.
  2. the state of being transposed.
  3. a transposed form of something.
  4. Genetics. the movement of a gene or set of genes from one DNA site to another.
  5. Photography. the process of reversing the tonality of an image, as from negative to positive.
  6. Mathematics. a permutation of a set of elements that interchanges two elements and leaves the remaining elements in their original positions.
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Origin of transposition

First recorded in 1530–40, transposition is from the Medieval Latin word trānspositiōn- (stem of trānspositiō). See trans-, position
Related formstrans·po·si·tion·al, trans·pos·i·tive [trans-poz-i-tiv] /trænsˈpɒz ɪ tɪv/, adjectivenon·trans·po·si·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

intersectionjunctiongive-and-takenetworkingdeportationtransmissionrelocationremovalfluctuationpermutationU-turnturnaboutcommercetransactionnetworktransferswapchangebartershift

Examples from the Web for transposition

Historical Examples

  • Had he lived in our times he would have made the transposition himself.

    Phaedrus

    Plato

  • In a concave mirror the top and bottom are inverted, but this is no transposition.

    Timaeus

    Plato

  • The philosophy of Berkeley is but the transposition of two words.

    Meno

    Plato

  • You mean that during the period of transposition you are invisible?

  • A single omission, insertion, or transposition counts as an error.

British Dictionary definitions for transposition

transposition

noun
  1. the act of transposing or the state of being transposed
  2. something transposed
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Derived Formstranspositional or transpositive (trænsˈpɒzɪtɪv), adjective
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

Word Origin and History for transposition

n.

1530s, from French transposition or directly from Medieval Latin transpositionem, noun of action from past participle stem of transponere (see transpose).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
transposition in Medicine

transposition

(trăns′pə-zĭsh′ən)
n.
  1. Removal from one place to another.
  2. The state of being transposed or of being on the wrong side of the body.
  3. Transfer of a segment of DNA to a new position on the same or another chromosome, plasmid, or cell.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.