translates

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of translate.

   The interpreter translates each sentence as the speaker pauses.

   Her early training translates directly into confidence on stage.

   Note

   Here the verb runs in two directions. Transitively, a person translates something: she translates the letter. Intransitively, the thing translates on its own, often with an adverb or with into: a joke that translates poorly, or training that translates into confidence. That second pattern carries the extended, change-of-form meanings, and it is where the word most often leaves language behind.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of translate.

   The translates of the base figure repeat at equal intervals across the tiled floor.

   Geometers compared the overlapping translates produced by successive shifts of the pattern.

   Note

   A geometer's plural: the translates of a set are the copies made by shifting every one of its points by the same fixed vector. It counts shapes, not texts, so a figure can have many translates spread across a plane. Do not confuse it with the everyday verb form, which has the same spelling but is about language and changes of form.

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