English
translate
Translate comes from Latin trānsferō ‘to transport, carry across, translate’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti‘to be carrying’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō‘to bear, carry’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsferō‘to transport, carry across, translate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānslātusperfect passive participle of trānsferō
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400translater
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500translaten‘to transport, translate, transform’
- Englishearliest quotation 1559translate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti‘to be carrying’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō‘to bear, carry’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsferō‘to transport, carry across, translate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānslātusperfect passive participle of trānsferō
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400translater
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500translaten‘to transport, translate, transform’
- Englishearliest quotation 1559translate
Earliest quotation: 1559, Concerning both the Clergy and Laity: “Curſed be he which tranſlateth the bounds and dolles…”
The story
Distant doublet of transfer, see collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prelate and prefer among others. In this sense, displaced Old English wendan (“to translate,” also the word for “to turn” and “to change”).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, prefer, broad, bread, fortune, burden, bearing, barrel, barn, bore, fury, baron, breeze, bark, berth, broom, barrow, embargo, fret, ferret, insufferable, furtive, bier, bahar, proffer, birr, bairn, burnish, barrette, 115 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to be carrying’
bear, borne, phosphorus, euphoria, phosphate, dysphoria, semaphore, indifferently, phosphine, 93 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, differently, indifferent, differentiation, infertility, deference, infertile, differentially, deferential, differentiable, differentiator, 70 more
through Latin ferō ‘to bear, carry’
different, offer, difference, reference, suffer, relative, extraordinary, differ, relation, referendum, referee, fertility, relate, fertile, frustration, strangely, defer, confer, infer, extravagant, fertilization, infra, fertilize, ablation, elated, frustrate, extraneous, elation, collation, strangeness, efferent, ablative, collate, dilate, estrange, oblate, 81 more
Today it means
verb To change spoken words or written text (of a book, document, movie, etc.) from one language to another.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / translate