transpose

The definition of transpose is to mix two things up or cause them to change places with each other, or to rewrite music in a different key, or to change something to a new form or place it in a new context.

(verb)

  1. When you mix up two numbers and put the first where the second should go, this is an example of a time when you transpose the numbers.
  2. When you rewrite a musical piece written in A flat into A minor, this is an example of a time when you transpose.

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See transpose in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb transposed, transposing

  1. to transfer or shift; now, specif., to change the usual, normal, relative, or respective order or position of; interchange: inadvertently transposed the e and the i in “weird”
  2. to transfer (an algebraic term) from one side of an equation to the other, reversing the plus or minus value
  3. to rewrite or play (a musical composition) in a different key or at another pitch level
  4. Obsolete to transform; convert

Origin: ME transposen < MFr transposer (for L transponere): see trans- & pose

intransitive verb

to play music in a key or at a pitch level different from the one in which it is written

noun

Math. a matrix obtained by interchanging the rows and columns of a given matrix

Related Forms:

See transpose in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb trans·posed, trans·pos·ing, trans·pos·es
verb, transitive
  1. To reverse or transfer the order or place of; interchange.
  2. To put into a different place or order: transpose the words of a sentence. See Synonyms at reverse.
  3. Mathematics To move (a term) from one side of an algebraic equation to the other side, reversing its sign to maintain equality.
  4. Music To write or perform (a composition) in a key other than the original or given key.
  5. To render into another language.
  6. To alter in form or nature; transform.
verb, intransitive
  1. Music To write or perform music in a different key.
  2. To admit of being transposed.
noun
Mathematics (trănsˈpōzˌ)
A matrix formed by interchanging the rows and columns of a given matrix.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English transposen, to transform

Origin: , from Old French transposer

Origin: , alteration (influenced by poser, to put, place)

Origin: of Latin trānspōnere, to transfer

Origin: : trāns-, trans-

Origin: + pōnere, to place; see apo- in Indo-European roots

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Related Forms:

  • trans·posˈa·ble adjective

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