- (transitive) to alter the positions of; interchange, as words in a sentence; put into a different order
- to play (notes, music, etc) in a different key from that originally intended
- to move (a note or series of notes) upwards or downwards in pitch
- (transitive) to move (a term) from one side of an equation to the other with a corresponding reversal in sign
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
trans•pose /trænsˈpoʊz/USA pronunciation
v., -posed, -pos•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to change or reverse the relative position of; interchange:[~ + object]to transpose the third and fourth letters of a word.
- Music and Danceto write or perform (a musical composition) in a different key: [~ + object]to transpose the song so she could sing it more easily.[no object]He could transpose at sight.
trans•pose
(v. trans pōz′;n. trans′pōz),USA pronunciation v., -posed, -pos•ing, n.
v.t.
v.t.
- to change the relative position, order, or sequence of;
cause to change places;
interchange:to transpose the third and fourth letters of a word. - to transfer or transport.
- [Algebra.]to bring (a term) from one side of an equation to the other, with corresponding change of sign.
- Mathematics(of a matrix) to interchange rows and columns.
- [Music.]to reproduce in a different key, by raising or lowering in pitch.
- to transform;
transmute. - to perform a piece of music in a key other than the one in which it is written:to transpose at sight.
- [Math.]a matrix formed from a given matrix by transposing.
- Middle French transposer. See trans-, pose1
- Middle English transposen to transmute 1350–1400
v.i.
n.
trans•pos′a•bil ′i•ty, n.
trans•pos ′er, n.
- 1. 5. rearrange. 3. invert.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
transpose /trænsˈpəʊz/ vb
'transposed' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
phoneme
- transposition
- Vicar of Bray
- adjoint
- answer
- flap
- flop
- movable-do system
- transponible
- transposed conjugate
- untransposed
- spareribs