translator

plural translators · alternative tr. · alternative trans. · alternative transl. · alternative translater · alternative translatour · alternative translatoure · alternative traunslatour · alternative translacttor · alternative translature · alternative translatar · alternative translatare

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.First known use 1382
   2. proscribedsometimesinexactSynonym of interpreter, a person or thing that immediately interprets direct speech.First known use 1850

      "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.

      1980, Gerald Ford, “Boyhood—and Beyond”, in A Time to Heal, New York: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 95

      Synonyms: interpreter

   3. figurativelyA person or thing that expresses an idea or style in a new form or medium.First known use 1855

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

      1855 June, Gentleman's Magazine, number 657, page 1

   4. historicalcomputingA machine that converts inputs into a pattern of holes on a punch card.First known use 1952
   5. USA relay station that retransmits incoming television signals after automatically adjusting their frequency to avoid interference.First known use 1956
   6. computingA program that converts commands from one computer language into another.First known use 1957
2. obsoleteSynonym of carrier, a person who transports something, now particularly (Roman Catholicism, rare) holy relics.First known use 1535

   ... 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.

   2019, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Images of Sainthood in Medieval Europe, page 100

   Synonyms: carrier

3. historicalSynonym of repairer, particularly of leather or cloth goods.First known use 1594

   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.

   1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, page 33

   Synonyms: repairer, particularly of leather or cloth goods

4. historicalslangA used and repaired shoe, boot, or other item of clothing.First known use 1851
5. obsoleteSynonym of repeater, a thing that automatically retransmits an incoming message along a telegraph line.First known use 1855

   Synonyms: repeater

6. obsoleteA thing that converts energy from one form to another.First known use 1884
7. biologyThe retinaculum of asclepiads.