"T" Word Origins

transliteration

Latin

From Latin trans- 'across' and littera 'letter', so literally 'carrying letters across' from one alphabet to another.

translucency

Origin

From translucent + -ency.

translucent

Latin

From Latin "translucentem," present participle of "translucere" — "trans-" ("across") plus "lucere" ("to shine").

transmasculine

Origin

From trans- + masculine.

transmigrate

Origin

Borrowed from Latin trānsmigrō. By surface analysis, trans- + migrate.

transmissible

Origin

From Latin trānsmissus + -ible.

transmission

Latin

Borrowed from Latin "transmissio," from "transmittere" ("to send across").

transmit

Latin

From Latin "transmittere," literally "to send across."

transmitter

Origin

Formed from "transmit" plus the agent suffix "-er."

transmogrify

Origin

17th century; origin uncertain, but possibly from transmigure, transmigrate. It is also possible that this word is a formation derived from maugre, hence it originally signified the "evil eye", but under the influence of the former etymologies shifted its meaning to its sense of "transformation". Another possibility is a humorous blending of transfigure and modify.

transmutation

Latin

From Old French transmutacion, from Latin transmutare, "to change across" — the same root gives us "mutate."

transmute

Origin

From Latin trānsmūtāre, from trans + mūtāre.

transom

Origin

From Middle English traunsom; probably an alteration of Latin trānstrum (“crossbeam”).

transparency

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin transparentia, built from transparent plus the noun ending -cy.

transparent

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin transparens, "shining through," from Latin trans- ("through") plus parere ("to appear").

transpicuous

Origin

Borrowed from Latin trānspicuus (“transparent”).

transpierce

Origin

From trans- + pierce.

transpiration

Latin

From Latin trans- 'through' and spirare 'to breathe'.

transpire

Latin

From Latin trans- "across, through" and spirare "to breathe", via French transpirer. The original English sense was the botanical one of vapour passing through a surface, from which the figurative sense of information leaking out developed.

transplant

Late Latin

From Old French transplanter, from Late Latin transplantare — trans- ("across") plus plantare ("to plant").

transplantation

Middle French

From Middle French transplantation, from transplanter ("to transplant") plus the action-noun ending -ation.

transponder

Origin

A blend of "transmitter" and "responder."

transport

Latin

From Old French transporter, from Latin trans- ("across") plus portare ("to carry").

transportation

Latin

Formed from transport plus the noun ending -ation, tracing back through Old French to Latin trans- ("across") and portare ("to carry").

transporter

Origin

From transport plus the agent suffix -er, "one that transports."

transporting

Middle English

From Middle English transportyng, equivalent to transport + -ing.

transpose

Latin

From Old French transposer, from Latin transpositus, "put across" — trans- ("across") plus ponere ("to put").

transposition

Origin

From Middle French transposition, from Medieval Latin transpositio.

transsex

Origin

From trans- + sex.

transsexed

Origin

From trans- + sexed.

transsexual

German · 1949

Coined in English in 1949 by physician David Oliver Cauldwell, adapting the German term Transsexualismus coined by Magnus Hirschfeld in 1923.

transude

Origin

From tran- (“through”) + sudare (“to sweat”).

transversal

Origin

From Middle French transversal, from Medieval Latin trānsversālis, from Latin trānsversus.

transverse

Latin

From Latin transversus, "turned across," a doublet of "transversal."

transversion

Origin

From trans- + -version. Compare conversion.

transvestite

Latin · 1910

From German Transvestitismus, coined in 1910 by Magnus Hirschfeld from Latin trans- ("across") and vestire ("to dress"); literally "cross-dresser."

Transylvania

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin Transsilvania, meaning "the land beyond the forest" — trans- ("across") plus silva ("forest"), a translation of the Hungarian name Erdély.

trap

Old English

From Old English træppe, "trap, snare," from a Germanic root meaning "to tread or stamp" — related to "step" and "tread."

trapdoor

Origin

A compound of trap and door.

trapeze

Latin

From French trapèze, from Latin trapezium — a doublet of "trapezium."

trapper

Origin

From trap plus the agent suffix -er.

trapping

Origin

From trap.

trappings

Origin

From trapping.

trash

Middle English

From Middle English trasch, likely from Old Norse tros, "rubbish, fallen twigs and leaves."

trashy

Origin

Formed from trash plus the adjective ending -y.

Trask

Origin

English surname, variant of Thirsk, a name and town in Yorkshire.

trauma

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek trauma, "wound, damage."

traumatic

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek traumatikos, from trauma, "wound."