TRANSPOSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does transpose mean? 

• TRANSPOSE (noun)
  The noun TRANSPOSE has 1 sense:

1. a matrix formed by interchanging the rows and columns of a given matrix

  Familiarity information: TRANSPOSE used as a noun is very rare.

• TRANSPOSE (verb)
  The verb TRANSPOSE has 7 senses:

1. change the order or arrangement of

2. transfer from one place or period to another

3. cause to change places

4. transfer a quantity from one side of an equation to the other side reversing its sign, in order to maintain equality

5. put (a piece of music) into another key

6. exchange positions without a change in value

7. change key

  Familiarity information: TRANSPOSE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRANSPOSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A matrix formed by interchanging the rows and columns of a given matrix

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("transpose" is a kind of...):

matrix ((mathematics) a rectangular array of quantities or expressions set out by rows and columns; treated as a single element and manipulated according to rules)

• TRANSPOSE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they transpose    ... he / she / it transposes   
Past simple: transposed   
Past participle: transposed   
-ing form: transposing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Change the order or arrangement of

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

commute; permute; transpose

Context example:

Dyslexics often transpose letters in a word

Hypernyms (to "transpose" is one way to...):

change by reversal; reverse; turn (change to the contrary)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "transpose"):

map; represent (to establish a mapping (of mathematical elements or sets))

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

transposition (the act of reversing the order or place of)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Transfer from one place or period to another

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

transfer; transplant; transpose

Context example:

The ancient Greek story was transplanted into Modern America

Hypernyms (to "transpose" is one way to...):

shift (move from one setting or context to another)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to change places

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

counterchange; interchange; transpose

Context example:

interchange this screw for one of a smaller size

Hypernyms (to "transpose" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Transfer a quantity from one side of an equation to the other side reversing its sign, in order to maintain equality

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "transpose" is one way to...):

shift; transfer (move around)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

transposition ((mathematics) the transfer of a quantity from one side of an equation to the other along with a change of sign)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Put (a piece of music) into another key

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "transpose" is one way to...):

arrange; set (adapt for performance in a different way)

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Did he transpose his major works over a short period of time?

Sense 6

Meaning:

Exchange positions without a change in value

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

commute; transpose

Context example:

These operators commute with each other

Hypernyms (to "transpose" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Domain category:

math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 7

Meaning:

Change key

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Can you transpose this fugue into G major?

Hypernyms (to "transpose" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

transposition ((music) playing in a different key from the key intended; moving the pitch of a piece of music upwards or downwards)

 Context examples 

You have only knowledge enough of the language to translate at sight these inverted, transposed, curtailed Italian lines, into clear, comprehensible, elegant English.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

A surgical procedure in which there is full-thickness excision of the malignant breast tumor and surrounding breast parenchyma to allow resection with wide surgical margins, while the remaining fibroglandular breast tissue is transposed to preserve the breast shape and cosmetic appearance in the best possible way.

(Oncoplastic Partial Mastectomy/Lumpectomy with Oncoplastic Closure, NCI Thesaurus)

Thus N, shall signify a plot; B, a regiment of horse; L, a fleet at sea; or, secondly, by transposing the letters of the alphabet in any suspected paper, they can lay open the deepest designs of a discontented party.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)