trans·lit·er·ate
tran(t)s-ˈli-tə-ˌrāt 
tranz-
transliterated; transliterating
: to represent or spell in the characters of another alphabet
trans·lit·er·a·tion
plural -s
: an act, process, or instance of transliterating
a table of seven different systems of transliteration of Russian—
Gregory Razran
Gregory Razran
also
: the product of such transliterating
Biblical Hebrew provides us with far stranger transliterations from the cuneiform —S. L. Caiger
S. L. Caiger Examples of transliterate in a Sentence
Verb
The Russian letter Я is usually transliterated in English as ya or ia.
Recent Examples on the Web
Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 May 2026
Larysa Panova, 67, often recalls the day of the accident that forced her to leave her native hometown of Chernobyl, which transliterate as Chornobyl, and begin a new life in Slavutych.
—ABC News, 25 Apr. 2026
Thus the Chinese word cha grew into the Hindi word chāy, transliterated in English as chai.
—Charles Preston, Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Mar. 2026
Like many foreign, mostly English, words, it is transliterated into katakana, a real-world phonetic script threatening to overtake traditional symbolic Japanese.
—Jessi Jezewska Stevens, The Dial, 2 Dec. 2025
The moniker – transliterated from the Chinese name for the region – is a linguistic battleground reflecting deeper geopolitical tensions between Beijing and critics of its Tibet policy.
—Steven Jiang, CNN Money, 1 May 2025
Image At times, the chatbot could not identify some modern slang terms and words that were transliterated from English to Arabic, two officers said.
—Sheera Frenkel, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2025
The two similar-sounding Chinese characters each have their own meanings, but none of particular significance when used to transliterate a foreign name.
—Raul A. Reyes, Newsweek, 22 Jan. 2025
Mother’s behavior cannot merely be transliterated into social history.
—Will Self, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Verb
However, Beijing has appeared to have used a diplomatic workaround to let Rubio in without lifting the sanctions, transliterating the first syllable of his surname with a different Chinese character.
—Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 May 2026
Larysa Panova, 67, often recalls the day of the accident that forced her to leave her native hometown of Chernobyl, which transliterate as Chornobyl, and begin a new life in Slavutych.
—ABC News, 25 Apr. 2026
Thus the Chinese word cha grew into the Hindi word chāy, transliterated in English as chai.
—Charles Preston, Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Mar. 2026
Like many foreign, mostly English, words, it is transliterated into katakana, a real-world phonetic script threatening to overtake traditional symbolic Japanese.
—Jessi Jezewska Stevens, The Dial, 2 Dec. 2025
The moniker – transliterated from the Chinese name for the region – is a linguistic battleground reflecting deeper geopolitical tensions between Beijing and critics of its Tibet policy.
—Steven Jiang, CNN Money, 1 May 2025
Image At times, the chatbot could not identify some modern slang terms and words that were transliterated from English to Arabic, two officers said.
—Sheera Frenkel, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2025
The two similar-sounding Chinese characters each have their own meanings, but none of particular significance when used to transliterate a foreign name.
—Raul A. Reyes, Newsweek, 22 Jan. 2025
Mother’s behavior cannot merely be transliterated into social history.
—Will Self, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Transliterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transliterate. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
transliterate
verb
trans·lit·er·ate
tran(t)s-ˈlit-ə-ˌrāt
tranz-
transliterated; transliterating
: to represent or spell in the characters of another alphabet
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