trans ‧ la ‧ tion /trænsˈleɪʃ ə n, trænz-/ BrE AmE noun
1 . [uncountable and countable] when you translate something, or something that has been translated
translation of
a new translation of the Bible
translation from
a literal translation from Arabic
She read the letter and gave us a rough translation (=she did not translate everything exactly) .
I’ve only read ‘Madame Bovary’ in translation (=not in its original language) .
Much of the book’s humour has been lost in translation (=is no longer effective when translated) .
2 . [uncountable] formal the process of changing something into a different form
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ do/make a translation of something
She had done a translation of the poem.
■ adjectives
▪ a rough/free translation (=one that is not very exact)
It’s a rough translation but I think the meaning is clear.
▪ an accurate/exact translation
The most accurate translation of the word would be ‘master’.
▪ a literal translation (=one in which each word is translated exactly)
First make a literal translation and then try and put it into idiomatic English.
▪ an English/French etc translation
He wrote the first English translation of Homer’s 'Iliad'.