transcribe

verb

tran·​scribe tran(t)-ˈskrīb How to pronounce transcribe (audio)
transcribed; transcribing

transitive verb

1
a
: to make a written copy of
b
: to make a copy of (dictated or recorded matter) in longhand or on a machine (such as a typewriter)
c
: to paraphrase or summarize in writing
2
a
: to represent (speech sounds) by means of phonetic symbols
c
: to transfer (data) from one recording form to another
d
: to record (as on magnetic tape) for later broadcast
3
: to make a musical transcription of
4
: to cause (DNA or RNA) to undergo genetic transcription
transcriber noun

Examples of transcribe in a Sentence

He transcribed all of his great-grandfather's letters. The senator's speech was transcribed. a Mozart string quartet transcribed for piano a system that allows linguists to transcribe the sounds of any language
Recent Examples on the Web Take the example of Tali AI, a medication dictation virtual assistant that offers transcribing in English, Spanish, and French. John Kell, Fortune, 12 Mar. 2024 The messages sent to Slater on the dating site, some of which were transcribed in the indictment, appeared romantic. Annabelle Timsit, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024 Merrick advised Chadwick to transcribe the text, so Chadwick returned to the library with a laptop. Simon Parkin, The New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2024 Algorithms are helping to schedule patients, determine staffing levels in emergency rooms and even transcribe and summarize clinical visits to save physicians’ time. Darius Tahir, Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2024 In the paper’s supplementary materials, a brief history of kissing pinpointed South Asia as the place of origin and traced the first literary buss to 1500 B.C., when Vedic Sanskrit manuscripts were being transcribed from oral history. Franz Lidz, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2024 Imagine meetings automatically transcribed, key takeaways instantly surfaced and knowledge shared effortlessly across teams. Miles Ward, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024 Regions called enhancers, for example, affect the probability that a gene will be transcribed. Philip Ball, Quanta Magazine, 14 Feb. 2024 At The Times, the messages were logged and transcribed by editorial assistants and shared with our editors, Ryan and me. Matt Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 12 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'transcribe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin transcribere, from trans- + scribere to write — more at scribe

First Known Use

1552, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of transcribe was in 1552

Cite this Entry

“Transcribe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transcribe. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

transcribe

verb
tran·​scribe tran(t)s-ˈkrīb How to pronounce transcribe (audio)
transcribed; transcribing
1
a
: to make a written copy of
b
: to make a copy of (dictated or recorded matter) by hand or on a machine (as a typewriter)
2
: to represent speech sounds with phonetic symbols
transcriber noun

Medical Definition

transcribe

transitive verb
tran·​scribe tran(t)s-ˈkrīb How to pronounce transcribe (audio)
transcribed; transcribing
: to cause (as DNA) to undergo genetic transcription

More from Merriam-Webster on transcribe

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