transposition
Americannoun
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an act of transposing.
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the state of being transposed.
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a transposed form of something.
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Genetics. the movement of a gene or set of genes from one DNA site to another.
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Photography. the process of reversing the tonality of an image, as from negative to positive.
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Mathematics. a permutation of a set of elements that interchanges two elements and leaves the remaining elements in their original positions.
noun
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the act of transposing or the state of being transposed
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something transposed
Other Word Forms
- nontransposition noun
- transpositional adjective
- transpositive adjective
Etymology
Origin of transposition
First recorded in 1530–40, transposition is from the Medieval Latin word trānspositiōn- (stem of trānspositiō ). See trans-, position
Vocabulary lists containing transposition
Genetics - Middle School
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Genetics - High School
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Music - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It’s possible, even when documents are uploaded digitally, that a preparer could have multiple windows or files open and make a transposition error,” said Thomas Gorczynski, a tax professional and enrolled agent with the IRS.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026
It’s based on a novel written in the 1890s by the Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler, and the adaptation’s transposition of time and place comes off as anachronistic and unconvincing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 15, 2025
Interestingly, genes that mapped near the hypothetical proteins involved activities in DNA mobilization and transposition, meaning the ability to move genes into, around or out of the bacterial genome.
From Science Daily • Oct. 13, 2023
The illusion blade-sword box was sold for £4,420, while transposition cloaks sold for £3,250.
From BBC • Nov. 25, 2022
It was time for transposition and docking, the maneuver by which we would attach Columbia to Eagle, nose to nose.
From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
