transfer
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
8 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "transfer", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "transfer" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "transfer" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
transfer is aEnglishverb. It means: To move or pass from one place, person or thing to another. Pronounced /tɹɑːnsˈfɜː/. It ranks #1,971 in English word frequency. Often confused with transform.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | transfer |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /tɹɑːnsˈfɜː/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #1,971 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for transfer is 8 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /tɹɑːnsˈfɜː/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,971 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for transfer, with forms such as "rtansfer", "tarnsfer", and "tranfser". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "transform", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin trānsferō (“I bear across”). Distant doublet of translate. See also collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prelate and prefer among others. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is transfer, spelled T-R-A-N-S-F-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To move or pass from one place, person or thing to another.
- 2To convey the impression of (something) from one surface to another.
- 3To exit one mass transit vehicle and board another (typically one belonging to a different line or mode of transportation) to continue a journey.
- 4To be or become transferred.
- 5To arrange for something to belong to or be officially controlled by somebody else.
- 6To move from a wheelchair to another seating surface, or to a wheelchair from another seating surface.
Etymology
From Latin trānsferō (“I bear across”). Distant doublet of translate. See also collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prelate and prefer among others.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rtansfer,tarnsfer,tranfser,trannsfer,transefr,transferr,transffer,transfre,transsfer,trasnfer,trnasfer,trransfer,ttransfer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for transfer
Misspelling Variants of "transfer"
Frequency rank: #1,971 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "transfer"?
What does "transfer" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "transfer"?
How do you pronounce "transfer"?
What is the origin of the word "transfer"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter T in our English index: