transpose

C2+ Topic:Cause, Change & Process

US /trænsˈpoʊz/ UK /trænsˈpəʊz/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to cause two or more things to change places; to put in a different key

She asked the pianist to transpose the song down a tone.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to cause two or more things... interchange switch reverse swap rearrange invert

Word family

Derived forms transposabletranspositiontransposer

Related forms compose depose impose expose pose

Etymology

From Old French transposer ('to transfer, transpose'), from Latin transponere ('to place across'), with the stem reshaped on French poser (ultimately from Latin pausare 'to halt', conflated with ponere 'to place').

transponere Latin trans Latin ponere Latin

View etymology graph ->

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# transpose

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /trænsˈpoʊz/
**IPA (UK):** /trænsˈpəʊz/

## Meanings
1. to cause two or more things to change places; to put in a different key

## Examples
- She asked the pianist to transpose the song down a tone.

## Synonyms
- interchange
- switch
- reverse
- swap
- rearrange
- invert

## Derived Forms
- transposable
- transposition
- transposer

## Related Forms
- compose
- depose
- impose
- expose
- pose

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: transponere
- Root: trans
- Root: ponere

## Etymology
From Old French transposer ('to transfer, transpose'), from Latin transponere ('to place across'), with the stem reshaped on French poser (ultimately from Latin pausare 'to halt', conflated with ponere 'to place').

## AI Etymology
Transpose comes from Old French transposer ('to transfer, transpose'), from Latin transponere ('to place across'), with the stem reshaped on French poser (ultimately from Latin pausare 'to halt', conflated with ponere 'to place'). The historical chain includes Latin transponere, Latin trans, and Latin ponere. The quoted older senses, "to transfer, transpose", "to place across", "to halt", and "to place", supply the semantic anchors for transpose. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word transpose carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a verb, "to cause two or more things to change places; to put in a different key". English derivatives include transposable, transposition, and transposer; related English forms include compose, depose, impose, expose, and pose. The result is a verb whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Cause, Change & Process

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transpose

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