Standard Lemma guide

transference

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /tɹænsˈfəɹəns/
  • US: /ˈtɹænsfəɹəns/
  • UK: /ˈtɹansf(ə)ɹ(ə)ns/
  • UK: /ˈtɹɑːnsf(ə)ɹ(ə)ns/
  • UK: /ˈtɹanzf(ə)ɹ(ə)ns/
  • UK: /ˈtɹɑːnzf(ə)ɹ(ə)ns/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: T R AE0 N S F ER1 AH0 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of conveying from one place to another; the act of transferring or the fact of being transferred.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: transferal

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The process by which emotions and desires, originally associated with one person, such as a parent, are unconsciously shifted to another.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, medicine, psychiatry, psychology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the act of transfering something from one form to another

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the transfer of the music from record to tape suppressed much of the background noise

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: transfer

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: change of state

4

noun

Meaning 4

transferring ownership

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: transfer

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: transaction, dealing, dealings

Narrower terms: alienation, conveyance, conveyance of title, conveyancing, conveying, quitclaim, lend-lease, lease-lend, secularization, secularisation

5

noun

Meaning 5

(psychoanalysis) the process whereby emotions are passed on or displaced from one person to another; during psychoanalysis the displacement of feelings toward others (usually the parents) is onto the analyst

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: displacement

Narrower terms: countertransference

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: siirtäminen — the act of conveying or transferring
  • French: transférence — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Galician: translación — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Greek: μεταφορά (metaforá) — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Greek: μεταβίβαση (metavívasi) — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Hungarian: átvitel — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Hungarian: átszállítás — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Hungarian: áthelyezés — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Hungarian: átruházás — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Italian: transferenza — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Māori: whakawhiti(a)nga — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Portuguese: baldeação — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Russian: переправление (perepravlenije) — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Spanish: transferencia — the act of conveying or transferring
  • Finnish: transferenssi — term used in psychology
  • French: transfert — term used in psychology
  • German: Übertragung — term used in psychology
  • Greek: μεταβίβαση (metavívasi) — term used in psychology
  • Hungarian: áttétel — term used in psychology
  • Hungarian: indulatáttétel — term used in psychology
  • Hungarian: érzelemáttétel — term used in psychology
  • Hungarian: indulatátvitel — term used in psychology
  • Hungarian: érzelemátvitel — term used in psychology
  • Hungarian: transzferencia — term used in psychology
  • Italian: transfert — term used in psychology
  • Portuguese: transferência — term used in psychology
  • Spanish: transferencia — term used in psychology
Real reading context

transference in complete knowledge articles

Deadly Circuit Arts & music · Challenging · 1 uses