TRANSPOSE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Transpose

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/trænspˈoʊz/ Listen

verb

Transpose v. t. (past & past part. transposed; pres. part. transposing)

To change the place or order of; to substitute one for the other of; to exchange, in respect of position; as, to transpose letters, words, or propositions.

To change; to transform; to invert. (R.) "Things base and vile, holding no quantity, Love can transpose to form and dignity."

(Alg.) To bring, as any term of an equation, from one side over to the other, without destroying the equation; thus, if a + b = c, and we make a = c - b, then b is said to be transposed.

(Gram.) To change the natural order of, as words.

(Mus.) To change the key of.

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Etymology of 'Transpose'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Transpose" Quotes from Famous Books

... positive law of our nature, the necessity of mental intercourse with our fellow-creatures, in order to the full developement of the individual, we are far from implying that any thing which is actually taken from others can by any process become our own, that is, original. We may reverse, transpose, diminish, or add to it, and so skilfully that no scam or mutilation shall be detected; and yet we shall not make it appear original,—in other words, true, the offspring of one mind. A borrowed thought will always be borrowed; as it will be felt as such ...

— Lectures on Art • Washington Allston

... analogy with {misbug}] n. A {feature} that superficially appears to be a {wart} but has been determined to be the {Right Thing}. For example, in some versions of the {EMACS} text editor, the 'transpose characters' command exchanges the character under the cursor with the one before it on the screen, *except* when the cursor is at the end of a line, in which case the two characters before the cursor are exchanged. While this behavior is perhaps surprising, ...

— THE JARGON FILE, VERSION 2.9.10

... some inconsistency. I am aware that B flat does not agree with the rest of the somewhat high-lying part, and a singer who has the voice for the whole part cannot make much effect in B flat, for which reason I was compelled at Dresden to transpose the piece to C. But this C major is altogether out of relation to the other songs of the singers' contest, and more especially it destroys the transition to the bright tone of the ensuing song of "Tannhauser," who, with his C major, is supposed ...

— Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt, Volume 1 • Francis Hueffer (translator)

... the ineffable pleasure of finding that all-important nothing which had come to be a king of monomania? Very good. Now, spread that fury of search over five years; put a woman, put a heart, put love in the place of the trifle; transpose the monomania into the key of high passion; and, furthermore, let the seeker be a man of ardent temper, with a lion's heart and a leonine head and mane, a man to inspire awe and fear in those who come in contact ...

— The Thirteen • Honore de Balzac

... littered my desk. Out of the past appeared clerks on high stools wielding quill pens and inscribing beautiful script for me to transpose into the story of one of America's most romantic and historic towns. It has been impossible to write about every house in Alexandria—even about every historic house. I tried to recall the old town ...

— Seaport in Virginia - George Washington's Alexandria • Gay Montague Moore

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