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to mistranslate

to mistranslate

2 5.6
To change the meaning by mistake when putting words into another language
  • verb
  • /ˌmɪsˈtrænzleɪt/
: mistraducir
  • The translator admitted that he had mistranslated several important phrases in the document.

You cannot mistranslate something that isn't there to begin with.

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Examples

  • But after comparing the text to the runes on this Viking shield, I found that one of the letters had been mistranslated.

  • The Septuagint scholars mistranslated the Hebrew word for "young woman" into the Greek word for "virgin".

  • You cannot mistranslate something that isn't there to begin with.

  • There was no chance his words were being mistranslated.

    Blog text (28)
  • Actually, that verse was mistranslated.

    Blog text (2)
  • That sentence has been mistranslated as "Even I have lived in Arcadia."

    Academic text (1998)
  • The word for virgin was mistranslated from Aramaic into into Greek.

  • To make that link, every one of these documents was mistranslated into English by INS's translators.

    Academic text (2002)
  • You are actually quoting very new translations that took a word that was referring to sexual predators and mistranslated it as "homosexual."

    Blog text (30)
  • You mistranslated; Diracheha Darchei Noam is not 'its ways are ways of justice and morality.'

    Blog text (34)

Synonyms

to distort
vsto mistranslate
77 4.6

To change facts so they become false or misleading

focuses on changing text between languages rather than general falsity
to warp
vsto mistranslate
34 7.4

To change facts or stories so they are not true

is limited to language conversion errors that change original meaning
to mischaracterize
vsto mistranslate
  • US
12 8.0

To describe a person or thing unfairly

is about wrong conversion of words between languages rather than false personal description
to garble
vsto mistranslate
7 8.0

To change a message so people cannot understand it

is specific to converting text between languages and losing meaning
misrepresented
vsto mistranslate
1 5.6

Shown in a false way that gives people the wrong idea

is narrower and refers to errors in converting between languages that lose sense

Antonyms

329 2.4

Express spoken or written words in another language

How Accurate

to translate
329 2.4
to mistranslate
2 5.6
to garble
7 8.0

Surface Forms

mistranslate infinitive
mistranslated past participle
mistranslating present participle
mistranslates third person singular

Morphology

mistranslate = translate (transparent) = mis + translate

The productive prefix 'mis-' meaning 'wrongly' combines with 'translate' to yield 'translate incorrectly', which is directly inferable by learners.

Etymology

Mistranslate is made of the parts mis- meaning 'wrong' and translate, which comes from a root meaning 'to carry across', like in transport. So to mistranslate is to 'carry across' the meaning in the wrong way, which changes or loses what was meant.