What does transmit mean?
Transmit means to send or pass something from one person, place, or system to another. It is used for communicating information, broadcasting programmes or performances, sending data or signals through technological networks, and describing the spread of an infection. The word is neutral in tone and particularly familiar in radio, telecommunications, computing, and public-health contexts, where transmit a signal, transmit data, and transmit disease are established expressions. Unlike transport, which primarily means to move people or goods, transmit focuses on sending information or passing something onward. Its Latin origins make its basic meaning especially clear: transmit literally means “send across.” The word is useful because it describes movement and communication across a distance, whether the transmission is spoken, electronic, biological, or symbolic.
verbTo send or pass something from one person, place, or system to another. In technical contexts, it means to send data, signals, or information through a communications system; it can also mean to pass on a disease.
- To send or communicate information, signals, or messages from one person or system to another.
- To broadcast or send out a programme, performance, or other content.
- To pass on a disease or infection from one person or organism to another.
"The station will transmit the live concert across the country."
"The weather station transmits updated readings every fifteen minutes."
"Mosquitoes can transmit the virus to humans."
From Latin trans- (“across”) and mittere (“send”), transmit literally means “send across”—a useful reminder for anything moving from one place or system to another.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does transmit come from?
Transmit comes from Latin transmittere, formed from trans- (“across”) and mittere (“to send”). The Latin verb meant “send across” or “pass on,” and English adopted it with senses connected both to sending messages and to spreading disease. It belongs to a family of English words including remit, emit, admit, and commit, all built on related Latin forms involving mittere.
Related word forms
How transmit is actually used
Transmit is neutral in register and especially common in radio, telecommunications, computing, and public-health contexts. Transmit a signal or data is standard technical usage, while transmit a message and transmit disease are also established.
Easily confused with transmit
To transmit is to send or communicate information, signals, or disease, whereas to transport is to move people, goods, or materials from one place to another.