Word.ws English Dictionary

change

/ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈt͡ʃɛjnd͡ʒ/

change verb: to become something different.

change: to become something different
Image: Microdac, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

change (third-person singular simple present changes, present participle changing, simple past and past participle changed)

  1. (intransitive) To become something different.
    • The tadpole changed into a frog.
    • Stock prices are constantly changing.
  2. (ergative, transitive) To make something into something else.
    • Lo I the man, whoſe Muſe whilome did maske,
      As time her taught in lowly Shepheards weeds,
      Am now enforſt a far unfitter taske,
      For trumpets ſterne to chaunge mine oaten reeds,
      And ſinge of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds[…]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 1
    • KORRIS: They shunned you. Cursed you. Called you vile names, and you knew not why. Even now do you know why you are driven? Why you cannot relent—or repent—or confess—or abstain? How could you know? There have been no other Klingons to lead you to that knowledge.
      WORF: Yes—yes—those feelings are...1988 March 21, Heart of Glory (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    transform
  3. (transitive) To replace.
    • Ask the janitor to come and change the lightbulb.
    • After a brisk walk, I washed up and changed my shirt.
  4. (intransitive) To replace one's clothing.
    • You can't go into the dressing room while she’s changing.
    • The clowns changed into their costumes before the circus started.
  5. (transitive) To replace the clothing of (the one wearing it), especially to put a clean diaper on (someone).
    • It’s your turn to change the baby.
  6. (transitive) To replace the sheets on (a bed) with fresh clean ones.
  7. (intransitive) To transfer to another vehicle (train, bus, etc.)
    • After stopping at these stations, my train has become busy. Returning day-trippers make up a goodly number, along with young people heading for a night out in Bristol, which is where I change once again.2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 66
  8. (archaic) To exchange.
    • At the first sight / they have changed eyes. (exchanged looks)1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
    • I would give any thing to change a word or two with this person.1662 Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2)
  9. (transitive) To change hand while riding (a horse).
    • to change a horse

Noun

change (countable and uncountable, plural changes)

  1. The process or result of becoming different.
    • The product is undergoing a change in order to improve it.
    • Such much-needed changes to the exam format might have a serious effect on candidates' performance.
  2. (uncountable) Small denominations of money given in exchange for a larger denomination.
    • Can I get change for this $100 bill, please?
  3. (countable) A replacement.
    • a change of clothes
    • After beating champions Chelsea 3-1 on Boxing Day, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger made eight changes to his starting XI in an effort to freshen things up, with games against Birmingham and Manchester City to come in the next seven days.2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2 - 2 Arsenal”, in BBC
    1. A replacement of a soiled diaper with a clean one; a diaper change.
      • The baby needs a change
  4. (uncountable) Balance of money returned from the sum paid after deducting the price of a purchase.
    • A customer who pays with a 10-pound note for a £9 item receives one pound in change.
  5. (uncountable) An amount of cash, usually in the form of coins, but sometimes inclusive of paper money.
    • Do you have any change on you? I need to make a phone call.
    • This bus ride requires exact change.
  6. (countable) A transfer between vehicles.
    • The train journey from Bristol to Nottingham includes a change at Birmingham.
    • It [the Elizabeth Line] will provide a 6tph (trains per hour) service and with a single change at Hayes & Harlington offer services towards Reading.2019 October, John Glover, “Heathrow rail expansion”, in Modern Railways, page 72
  7. A change-up pitch.
  8. Any order in which a number of bells are struck, other than that of the diatonic scale.
    • Four bells admit twenty-four changes in ringing.1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech: An Essay of Inquiry into the Natural Production of Letters: […], London: […] T. N[ewcomb] for J[ohn] Martyn printer to the R[oyal] Society, […], →OCLC
  9. (Scotland, dated) A public house; an alehouse.
    • They call an alehouse a change.1727-1728, Edward Burt, Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland to his Friend in London

change meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

change in Hindi

to become something different
बदलना badalnā
to make something into something else
रूपांतरण rūpāntraṇ
to replace
बदलना badalnā
the process of becoming different
बदलना badalnā, बदलाव badlāv, परिवर्तन parivartan

change in Tamil

to replace one's own clothing
மாற்று māṟṟu
to become something different
மாறு māṟu
to make something into something else
மாற்று māṟṟu
to replace
மாற்று māṟṟu

change in Marathi

to become something different
बदलने badalne
a replacement
बदल badal
the process of becoming different
बदल badal

change in Urdu

change, alteration
تغییر taġyīr
change, replace
تبدیل tabdīl
to change, to transform
بدلنا badalnā
More languagesFewer languages
change in Bengali
পরিবর্তন করা poriborton kora, বদল করা bodol kora, পরিবর্তন poriborton
change in Telugu
మారు māru, మార్చు mārcu, మార్పు mārpu, చిల్లర cillara
change in Malayalam
മാറുക māṟuka, മാറ്റുക māṟṟuka, മാറ്റം māṟṟaṁ, ചില്ലറ cillaṟa
change in Kannada
ಚಿಲ್ಲರೆಮಾಡು cillaremāḍu
change in Punjabi
بدلنا badalṇā
change in Gujarati
બદલવું badalvũ, ફેરફાર pherphār, પરિવર્તન parivartan
change in Odia
ବଦଳିବା badaḷibā, ପାଲଟିବା pālaṭibā, ଫେରିବା pheribā
change in Sanskrit
परिणाम pariṇāma, विकरण vikaraṇa, ऊहति ū́hati, लिङ्ग् liṅg
change in Assamese
সলোৱা xolüa, বদলোৱা bodolüa, সলনি হ xoloni ho, বদল bodol
change in Nepali
फेर्नु phernu
change in Pashto
بدلول badlawəl, اوړېدل awṛedəl, بدلېدل badledəl, اړول aṛawəl
change in Tagalog
palit, bago, ibago, bayluhin
change in Arabic
تَغَيَّرَƒ taḡayyara, تَغْيِير taḡyīr, غَيَّرَ ḡayyara, تَبْدِيل tabdīl
change in Malay
tukar
change in Indonesian
ubah, berubah, perubahan, pergantian
change in Persian
تغییر کردن taġyir kardan, دگرگون کردن degargun kardan, تغییر دادن taġyir dâdan, تغییر taġyir
change in Thai
เปลี่ยน bplìian, แปลง bplɛɛng, เงินทอน ngən-tɔɔn, ต่อ dtɔ̀ɔ
change in Vietnamese
thay đổi, đổi, thay, tiền lẻ

Examples of change in a sentence

  • The fairy changed the frog into a prince.
  • I had to change the wording of the ad so it would fit.
  • Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest.2013 May 11, “The climate of Tibet: Pole-land”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8835, page 80:
  • Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus.[…]A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.2013 July–August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist:
  • Towards the end of the nineteenth century, boys who had pretended soldiers down through the centuries, now changed their pikes and swords for toy pistols.1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 193:
  • Cause people often talk about being scared of change / But for me I'm more afraid of things staying the same2008, Nick Cave, “Jesus Of The Moon”, in Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, performed by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:

All 40 example sentences with change

Synonyms of change

4 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of change

Forms of change

Verb
third-person singular presentchanges
present participlechanging
past participlechanged
pastchanged
second-person singular present (archaic)changest
second-person singular past (archaic)changedst
third-person singular present (archaic)changeth
Noun
pluralchanges

Past tense of change: changed

Plural of change: changes

Origin of change

From Middle English changen, chaungen, from Old French changier, from Late Latin cambiāre, from Latin cambīre (“to exchange, barter”), derived from the noun cambium (“change”) (whence was loaned the English doublet cambium), from Gaulish cambion, earlier *kambyom (“change”), related to Proto-Celtic *kambos (“twisted, crooked”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱh₂(e)mbos, *(s)kh₂(e)mbos (“crooked”). More at skimp, scam; see also Proto-Indo-European *kh₂em-. Cognate with Italian cambiare, Portuguese cambiar, Romanian schimba, Sicilian canciari, Spanish cambiar. Used in English since the 13th century. Displaced Middle English wenden, from wendan (“to turn, change”) (whence wend). The noun is from Middle English change, chaunge, from Old French change, from the verb changier. See also exchange. Possibly related from the same source is Old English gombe.

Words formed from change

Phrases with change

88 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with change

2 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about change

What does change mean?
Change means to become something different.
What is change in Hindi?
Change in Hindi is बदलना (badalnā), रूपांतरण (rūpāntraṇ), बदलाव (badlāv). See Change meaning in Hindi.
How do you use change in a sentence?
The fairy changed the frog into a prince.
What part of speech is change?
Change can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce change?
Change is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/ (UK).
What is the past tense of change?
The past tense of change is changed.

Words near change in the dictionary

  1. Changchiens
  2. Changchou
  3. Changchow
  4. Changchun
  5. Changde
  6. change
  7. change a word, get a third
  8. change agent
  9. change agents
  10. Change Alley
  11. change around

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: change (page history and authors); بدلنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); بدلنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ପାଲଟିବା (Odia) (page history and authors); ऊहति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); फेर्नु (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-change.ogg, En-uk-change.ogg.

Cite this entry: “change.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/change. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.