Origin: Latin suffix -tion
Translation has 9 different meanings across 1 category:
a written communication in a second language having the same meaning as the written communication in a first language
"The translator spent hours perfecting the translation to ensure every nuance of the original legal contract was preserved in Spanish."
a uniform movement without rotation
"The translation of the robot arm moved it straight across the table without any spinning motion."
the act of changing in form or shape or appearance
"a photograph is a translation of a scene onto a two-dimensional surface"
(mathematics) a transformation in which the origin of the coordinate system is moved to another position but the direction of each axis remains the same
"In our geometry class, we learned how a translation shifts every point on a graph by the same distance without rotating or flipping the shape."
(genetics) the process whereby genetic information coded in messenger RNA directs the formation of a specific protein at a ribosome in the cytoplasm
"The new drug works by inhibiting translation, which stops the virus from producing its essential proteins inside human cells."
rewording something in less technical terminology
"The engineer asked for a translation of the complex safety protocols so that the new hires could understand them without getting lost in jargon."
the act of uniform movement
"After years of chaotic edits, the translator finally achieved a smooth translation where every scene shifted uniformly across time and space without any jarring cuts."
The act of translating, in its various senses:
"The translation took three days because the idioms in the original text didn't have direct equivalents in Spanish."
The conversion of text from one language to another.
"She spent all afternoon working on the translation of the legal contract into Spanish."
In plain English: Translation is the act of changing words from one language into another so people can understand them.
"The translation of the contract took two days to finish accurately."
Usage: Translation refers specifically to the process of converting written or spoken words from one language into another. It is often confused with interpretation, which involves rendering speech orally rather than producing a written document.
The word "translation" entered Middle English from Anglo-Norman and Latin as a term for transferring or transporting something. It eventually replaced the native Old English word wending to describe the act of translating text between languages.