transfer
/tɹɑːnsˈfɜː//tɹænsˈfɚ/
transfer verb: to move or pass from one place, person or thing to another. Also the ellipsis of transfer student.
Verb
transfer (third-person singular simple present transfers, present participle transferring, simple past and past participle transferred)
- To move or pass from one place, person or thing to another.
- to transfer the laws of one country to another; to transfer suspicion
- Synonyms:
- carry over, move, onpass
- To convey the impression of (something) from one surface to another.
- to transfer drawings or engravings to a lithographic stone
- To exit one mass transit vehicle and board another (typically one belonging to a different line or mode of transportation) to continue a journey.
- transfer to the Blue Line
- To be or become transferred.
- To arrange for something to belong to or be officially controlled by somebody else.
- The title to land is transferred by deed.
- To 'carry' or apply anything (a concept, a name...) from one type of thing to a different type of thing.
- The ancient Romans named the planet Mars by transferring that name from a deity of their pantheon to the planet appearing in the night sky.
- To move from a wheelchair to another seating surface, or to a wheelchair from another seating surface.
Noun
UK/ˈtɹɑːns.fɜː/US/ˈtɹæns.fɚ/
transfer (countable and uncountable, plural transfers)
- The act of conveying or removing something from one place, person or thing to another.
- An instance of conveying or removing from one place, person or thing to another; a transferal.
- A farmer could place an order for a new tractor part by text message and pay for it by mobile money-transfer. A supplier many miles away would then take the part to the local matternet station for airborne dispatch via drone.2012 December 1, “An internet of airborne things”, in The Economist, volume 405, number 8813, page 3 (Technology Quarterly)
- An act of exiting one mass transit vehicle and boarding another (typically one belonging to a different line or mode of transportation) to continue a journey.
- Free transfers can be made between the Red and Orange Lines by walking from one of the station's platforms to another; in addition, riders using a fare card also get free transfers between bus and subway at the station.
- A paper receipt given to a rider of one bus (and historically also certain elevated or subway lines), allowing free entry onto another bus to continue a journey.
- A design conveyed by contact from one surface to another; a heat transfer.
- All passenger stock is lettered in shaded gold leaf transfers and has never been decorated with either a crest or monogram.1956 May, D. B. McNeill, “The Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 336
- A soldier removed from one troop, or body of troops, and placed in another.
- A pathological process by which a unilateral morbid condition on being abolished on one side of the body makes its appearance in the corresponding region upon the other side.
- The conveying of genetic material from one cell to another.
- A conventional bid which requests partner to bid the next available suit.
- A person who transfers or is transferred from one club or team to another.
- Synonyms:
- transfer student
- Of a person with limited mobility: an instance of independent or assisted movement from one stable surface to another.
- Understanding car transfers and [wheelchair] loading in independent drivers is crucial to prevent shoulder pain and injury and preserve community participation.2015, Lisa Lighthall Haubert, et al, “Car transfer and wheelchair loading techniques in independent drivers with paraplegia”, in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
- Transfers and bed mobility are a normal part of our daily activities. Going from lying down to sitting edge of bed, rolling, getting in/out of bed, sitting and standing from bed/chairs and toilet are all examples of transfers and bed mobility.2018, Bed Mobility and Transfers (PDF), Pioneer Network
Also used as
transfer is also the ellipsis of transfer student.
transfer is also the ellipsis of language transfer.
transfer meaning in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Tagalog
transfer in Hindi
- to move or pass from one place, person or thing to another
- स्थानांतरण sthānāntraṇ, हस्तांतरण hastāntraṇ
- act
- स्थानांतरण sthānāntraṇ
transfer in Telugu
- act
- బదిలీ badilī
transfer in Malayalam
- to move or pass from one place, person or thing to another
- സ്ഥലംമാറ്റം sthalammāṟṟaṁ
transfer in Tagalog
- to move or pass from one place, person or thing to another
- lipat
More languagesFewer languages
- transfer in Arabic
- حَوَّلَ ḥawwala, اِنْتِقَال intiqāl
- transfer in Malay
- tukar
- transfer in Thai
- ถ่ายโอน
- transfer in Vietnamese
- sang tên
Examples of transfer in a sentence
- With revenues down and transfer payments up, the legislature has a full plate.
- I'm going to the bank to put in for a transfer.
- She transferred from the Faculty of Science to the Faculty of Medicine.
Synonyms of transfer
6 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of transfer
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | transfers |
| present participle | transferring |
| past participle | transferred |
| past | transferred |
| alternative form | xfer |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | transferrest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | transferredst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | transferreth |
| Noun | |
| plural | transfers |
Origin of transfer
From Latin trānsferō (“to bear across”). Distant doublet of translate. See also collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prelate and prefer among others.
Words formed from transfer
- acetyltransfer
- aminotransfer
- biotransfer
- transferability
- transferable
- transferor
- transferrer
- transferror
- cotransfer
- electrotransfer
- mistransfer
- retransfer
- retrotransfer
- transferee
- asynchronous transfer mode
- balance transfer
- bank transfer
- bi-elliptic transfer
- Bosman transfer
- celestial transfer
- cold transfer
- credit transfer
- cryotransfer
- data transfer object
- data transfer rate
- dignified transfer
- dry transfer
- electronic benefit transfer
- electron transfer
- electron transfer reaction
- embryo transfer
- energy transfer
- e-transfer
- feedback transfer function
- forward transfer function
- free transfer
- gene transfer
- Gruen transfer
- hairpin transfer
- hip transfer
- Hohmann transfer
- Hohmann transfer orbit
- horizontal gene transfer
- Jacoby transfer
- language transfer
- lateral gene transfer
- lateral transfer
- lipotransfer
- loop transfer function
- negative transfer
- oblivious transfer
- pedotransfer
- personnel transfer basket
- phase transfer catalysis
- phase-transfer catalyst
- phosphotransfer
- phototransfer
- positive transfer
- posttransfer
- pretransfer
Phrases with transfer
- transfer DNA
- transfer fee
- transfer RNA
- transfer tax
- heat transfer
- time transfer
- transfer DNAs
- transfer exam
- transfer list
- transfer rate
- transfer RNAs
- transfer test
45 more phrasesFewer phrases
- warm transfer
- wire transfer
- transfer agent
- transfer exams
- transfer lists
- transfer paper
- transfer rates
- transfer table
- transfer taxes
- transfer tests
- proton transfer
- transfer agents
- transfer market
- transfer papers
- transfer window
- transfer markets
- transfer payment
- transfer pricing
- transfer student
- transfer windows
- trophic transfer
- transfer earnings
- transfer function
- transfer payments
- transfer students
- radiative transfer
- transfer functions
- data transfer rates
- technology transfer
- data transfer objects
- Great Wealth Transfer
- File Transfer Protocol
- File Transfer Protocols
- Hohmann transfer orbits
- loop transfer functions
- Automated Transfer Vehicle
- forward transfer functions
- personnel transfer baskets
- Automated Transfer Vehicles
- electron transfer reactions
- feedback transfer functions
- Hypertext Transfer Protocol
- time and frequency transfer
- somatic cell nuclear transfer
- representational state transfer
Questions about transfer
- What does transfer mean?
- Transfer means to move or pass from one place, person or thing to another.
- What is transfer in Hindi?
- Transfer in Hindi is स्थानांतरण (sthānāntraṇ), हस्तांतरण (hastāntraṇ). See Transfer meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is transfer?
- Transfer can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce transfer?
- Transfer is pronounced /tɹɑːnsˈfɜː/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of transfer?
- The past tense of transfer is transferred.
Words near transfer in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: transfer (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-transfer (verb).wav, en-us-transfer.ogg.
Cite this entry: “transfer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/transfer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
