translate

Where does the word "translate" come from? It comes from Latin transferre, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).

Translate’s story begins in Latin: transferre meant “to carry across.” To carry across, from trans- (across) and ferre (to carry), with irregular past participle translatus. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as translater. Carried into French for rendering text into another language. It reached English by 1300s as translate. Settled as the English word for converting text from one language to another. Today, translate means to convert words or text from one language into another.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient transferre "to carry across", to carry across, from trans- (across) and ferre (to carry), with irregular past participle translatus.
2. Stage 2 · Old French · medieval translater "to render text into another language", carried into French for rendering text into another language.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1300s translate "to convert text or speech from one language into another", settled as the English word for converting text from one language to another.