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traduce

Etymology and origin of the English word traduce

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tɹəˈdjuːs/ (UK); /tɹəˈdus/, /tɹəˈdjus/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin traduco (“to lead across, transfer; to lead as a spectacle, disgrace”),[2][3][4][5][6] from trāns- “across” and dūcere “to lead”.[2][3][4][5][6] The same Latin verb gave French traduire and Spanish traducir “to translate”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To alter or put into another form, especially to translate (before 1533),[3][7] and to transport from one place to another (1535).[7][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries the word also meant to pass on to one's offspring or descendants (1568).[7][4][1] The sense to defame or slander, to expose to ridicule, is from the 1580s (1586–87 in Barnhart),[3][4][1] from the Latin figurative use “to lead along as a spectacle, to disgrace”.[3][4] The older senses are now obsolete.[7][1] Traducer “slanderer” is from 1614.[3]

Timeline

  • before 1533 – to translate or alter.[3][7]
  • 1535 – to transport.[7]
  • 1568 – to transmit to offspring.[7]
  • 1586–87 – to slander.[3]
  • 1614 – traducer.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To humiliate or disgrace someone by making malicious and false statements; to slander or defame.
  2. To violate or betray, as a principle.
  3. (obsolete) To transmit to one's descendants.

Word family

  • traducement
  • traducer
  • traducingly
  • untraduced
  • transduce
  • duke
  • conduct
  • traducianism

Usage notes

Random House lists vilify, decry and disparage as synonyms and praise as an antonym.[6] Wiktionary warns against confusing it with transduce.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Traduce.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/traduce. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

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