Skip to main content
PlainSpell

translocate

trans·loc·ateUK /tɹænzlə(ʊ)ˈkeɪt/verb, noun

translocate is a verb meaning “To move or transfer (someone or something) from one place to another; to displace, to relocate, to remove” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled T-R-A-N-S-L-O-C-A-T-E and has 3 syllables (trans·loc·ate), and it appears about once in every 20 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does translocate mean?

verb

  1. 1

    To move or transfer (someone or something) from one place to another; to displace, to relocate, to remove.

  2. 2

    To move or transfer (an animal) from one place to another, especially as part of a wildlife conservation programme.

  3. 3

    To cause (a molecule, substance, etc.) to undergo translocation through a cell membrane or body tissue, usually by an active process.

  4. 4

    To cause (a chromosomal segment) to undergo translocation to a different place, especially on a non-homologous chromosome.

  5. 5

    To move or travel from one place to another; to relocate.

  6. 6

    Of a molecule, substance, etc.: to undergo translocation through a cell membrane or body tissue, usually by an active process.

  7. 7

    Of a chromosomal segment: to undergo translocation to a different place, especially on a non-homologous chromosome.

noun

  1. 1

    A substance which is moved by translocation through a body tissue or cell membrane, especially (botany) through the phloem of a plant.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce translocate?

  • UK /tɹænzlə(ʊ)ˈkeɪt/
  • UK /tɹɑːnz-/
  • UK /tɹæn(t)s-/

As a noun (“A substance which is moved by translocation through a body…”): /ˈtɹænzləˌkeɪt/, /tɹɑːnz-/, /tɹæn(t)s-/.

Translocate has 3 syllables, split trans·loc·ate in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-translocate.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-translocate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of translocate

  • translocates present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • translocating participle, present
  • translocated participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is translocate?

Translocate appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 136,649th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Translocate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germantranslozieren ((transitive) to cause (a molecule, substance…)
Spanishtraslocar ((transitive) to cause (a chromosomal segment)…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does translocate come from?

The verb is derived from trans- (prefix meaning ‘across; to the other side of’) + locate, a back-formation from translocation. The noun is derived from the verb; see -ate.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).