What does transliterate mean?
Transliterate means to convert a word or text from one writing system into another while preserving its spoken form. The written result may use the Latin alphabet, Greek letters, Arabic script, or another system. This differs from translation, which conveys meaning in another language, and from transcription, which records sounds or speech. Transliteration is especially important in linguistics, bibliography, religious studies, and the preservation of historical records, as it allows readers using one script to approach names and texts written in another. It also commonly describes converting foreign names into Latin letters so that their pronunciation can be more readily understood. The word can additionally refer to representing sounds in a specified script. Though transliteration does not normally reproduce every feature of the original spelling or grammar, its principal purpose is to make a written form pronounceable and recognizable across writing-system boundaries.
verbTo convert a word or text from one writing system into another, preserving its pronunciation rather than translating its meaning. It can also refer to representing the sounds of a language in a different script.
- To convert a word or text from one writing system into another, especially from a non-Latin script into the Latin alphabet.
- To represent the sounds of a language, name, or speaker in a specified script, often preserving pronunciation rather than spelling.
"The guide transliterated each place name into the Latin alphabet so that readers could pronounce it accurately."
"The historian transliterated the inscriptions using the modern Greek alphabet."
"Her name is difficult to pronounce, so she transliterated it as Marisol."
Transliterate literally means “to carry letters across”: it moves a text into another writing system without changing what is said.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does transliterate come from?
The English verb comes from the Latin translitterare, formed from trans- “across” and littera “letter.” In Latin, the word referred to carrying or transferring letters from one place to another. English borrowed it in the early 17th century, and related English words such as literate and literature ultimately derive from the same ancient root for writing and letters.
Related word forms
How transliterate is actually used
This is a formal and academic term, common in linguistics, religion, history, and language teaching. It should not be used when the intended operation is translation into another language or a direct phonetic transcription of speech.
Easily confused with transliterate
Transliteration represents a text in another writing system, whereas translation expresses its meaning in another language.
Transcription records speech in written form, while transliteration usually converts an existing text or name from one writing system into another.