# transcribe

> English word · Verb · IPA /trænˈskɹaɪb/ · frequency rank #42,458

## Definitions
1. To convert a representation of language, typically speech but also sign language, etc., to a written representation of it. The term now usually implies the conversion of speech to text by a human transcriptionist with the assistance of a computer for word processing and sometimes also for speech recognition, the process of a computer interpreting speech and converting it to text.
2. To make such a conversion from live or recorded speech to text.
3. To transfer data from one recording medium to another.
4. To adapt a composition for a voice or instrument other than the original; to notate live or recorded music.
5. To cause DNA to undergo transcription.
6. To represent speech by phonetic symbols.

## Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin trānscrībere (“to write again in another place, transcribe, copy”).

## Easily confused with
- **transcript** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/transcribe-vs-transcript)
- **transcribed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/transcribe-vs-transcribed)

## Common misspellings (16)
`rtanscribe`, `tarnscribe`, `trancsribe`, `trannscribe`, `transccribe`, `transcirbe`, `transcrbie`, `transcribbe`, `transcrieb`, `transcrribe`, `transrcibe`, `transscribe`, `trasncribe`, `trnascribe`, `trranscribe`, `ttranscribe`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/transcribe