translator

• tr., trans., transl. (abbreviations)
• translater (now generally proscribed)
• translatour, translatoure, traunslatour, translacttor, translature, translatar, translatare (obsolete)

Directly from Latin trānslātor and French translator, and also from Middle English translatour, from Old French translatour, translateur, etc., from Latin trānslātor, from trānslātus (“carried across”) + -or (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from trānsferō (“carry across”), from trans (“across”) + ferō (“bear, carry”), q.v. Equivalent to translate +‎ -or.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹænzleɪtɚ/, /ˈtɹænsleɪtɚ/, /ˌtɹænzˈleɪtɚ/, [ˌtʰɹænzˈleɪtʰɚ], [ˌtʰɹænzˈleɪɾɚ], /ˌtɹænsˈleɪtɚ/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹanzleɪtə/, /ˈtɹɑːnzleɪtə/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪtə(ɹ)

translator (plural translators)

1. A person or thing that translates meaning from one language into another, particularly
   1. A person or thing that translates various forms of text. [1382]
   2. (inexact, sometimes proscribed) Synonym of interpreter, a person or thing that immediately interprets direct speech. [1850]
      • 1980, Gerald Ford, “Boyhood—and Beyond”, in A Time to Heal‎^[1], New York: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 95:

        "You don't believe the Soviet Union is going to reduce its defense budget, do you?" Boggs asked.
        Premier Chou didn't wait for the translator to finish. "Never, never, never," he replied in perfect English.

   3. (figuratively) A person or thing that expresses an idea or style in a new form or medium. [1855]
      • 1855 June, Gentleman's Magazine, number 657, page 1:

        Mr. C. Blair Leighton... lithographer... was one of the earliest translators of water and oil pictures by the chromatic process.

   4. (computing, chiefly historical) A machine that converts inputs into a pattern of holes on a punch card. [1952]
   5. (chiefly US) A relay station that retransmits incoming television signals after automatically adjusting their frequency to avoid interference. [1956]
   6. (computing) A program that converts commands from one computer language into another. [1957]
2. (chiefly obsolete) Synonym of carrier, a person who transports something, now particularly (Roman Catholicism, rare) holy relics. [1535]
   • 2019, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Images of Sainthood in Medieval Europe, page 100:

     ... the translator of the life and miracles of the saints, like the translator of the relics, need not have been "literate"; nor did he have to be a clerk.

3. (historical) Synonym of repairer, particularly of leather or cloth goods. [1594]
   • 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, page 33:

     Boots and Shoes are not to be had, I am told, in sufficient quantity for the demand from the slop-shops, the "translators," and the second-hand dealers. Great quantities of second-hand boots and shoes are sent to Ireland to be "translated" there.

4. (historical, slang) A used and repaired shoe, boot, or other item of clothing. [1851]
5. (obsolete) Synonym of repeater, a thing that automatically retransmits an incoming message along a telegraph line. [1855]
6. (obsolete) A thing that converts energy from one form to another. [1884]
7. (botany) The retinaculum of asclepiads.

In modern professional contexts, a translator specifically deals with text input in contrast to an interpreter who deals with speech or signing input, generally under greater time constraints. Subtitles for videos, games, performances, etc. are generally handled by translators working from transcripts.

• dubash (India, chiefly historical); interpreter (inexact)

• machine translator

• “translator, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Borrowed from English translator, from Middle English translatour, from Old French translator, translatour, translateur, from Latin trānslātor.

• IPA^(key): /transˈla.tɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atɔr
• Syllabification: trans‧la‧tor

translator m pers (female equivalent translatorka)

1. (literary, translation studies) translator (someone who translates)

   Synonym: tłumacz

translator m inan

1. (computing) translator (computer program that translates something from one language to another using machine translation)

• translator in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• translator in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from French translateur, from Latin translator, translatoris.

translator m (plural translatori, feminine equivalent translatoare)

1. translator (someone who translates)