English Word Reference Free

transpose

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "transpose", 9-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 "transpose" 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 "transpose" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

transpose is aEnglishverb. It means: To reverse or change the order of (two or more things); to swap or interchange. Pronounced /tɹænsˈpəʊz/.

Compare similar words

See how transpose compares against similar English words.

Browse all word comparisons →
Key facts for transpose
PropertyValue
Headwordtranspose
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/tɹænsˈpəʊz/
Letters9
Frequency rank#50,851
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of transpose in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for transpose is 9 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /tɹænsˈpəʊz/. Corpus data places it at rank #50,851 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for transpose in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English transposen, from Old French transposer, from Latin trānspositus, perfect passive participle of trānspōnō (“to put across”), from trāns (“across”) + pōnō (“to put”). 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 transpose, spelled T-R-A-N-S-P-O-S-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To reverse or change the order of (two or more things); to swap or interchange.
  2. 2
    To rewrite or perform (a piece) in another key.
  3. 3
    To move (a term) from one side of an algebraic equation to the other, reversing the sign of the term.
  4. 4
    To rearrange elements in a matrix, by interchanging their respective row and column positional indicators.
  5. 5
    To reverse the direction of every edge of (a graph).
  6. 6
    To give force to a directive by passing appropriate implementation measures.
  7. 7
    To reach a position that may also be obtained from a different move order.

Etymology

From Middle English transposen, from Old French transposer, from Latin trānspositus, perfect passive participle of trānspōnō (“to put across”), from trāns (“across”) + pōnō (“to put”).

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Frequency rank: #50,851 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "transpose"?
"transpose" is spelled T-R-A-N-S-P-O-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /tɹænsˈpəʊz/.
What does "transpose" mean?
As a verb, "transpose" means: To reverse or change the order of (two or more things); to swap or interchange.
How do you pronounce "transpose"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "transpose" is /tɹænsˈpəʊz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "transpose"?
From Middle English transposen, from Old French transposer, from Latin trānspositus, perfect passive participle of trānspōnō (“to put across”), from trāns (“across”) + pōnō (“to put”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter T in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.