transmit
Americanverb (used with object)
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to send or forward, as to a recipient or destination; dispatch; convey.
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to communicate, as information or news.
- Synonyms:
- bear
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to pass or spread (disease, infection, etc.) to another.
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to pass on (a genetic characteristic) from parent to offspring.
The mother transmitted her red hair to her daughter.
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Physics.
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to cause (light, heat, sound, etc.) to pass through a medium.
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to convey or pass along (an impulse, force, motion, etc.).
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to permit (light, heat, etc.) to pass through.
Glass transmits light.
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Radio and Television. to emit (electromagnetic waves).
verb (used without object)
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to send a signal by wire, radio, or television waves.
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to pass on a right or obligation to heirs or descendants.
verb
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(tr) to pass or cause to go from one place or person to another; transfer
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(tr) to pass on or impart (a disease, infection, etc)
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(tr) to hand down to posterity
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(tr; usually passive) to pass (an inheritable characteristic) from parent to offspring
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to allow the passage of (particles, energy, etc)
radio waves are transmitted through the atmosphere
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to send out (signals) by means of radio waves or along a transmission line
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to broadcast (a radio or television programme)
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(tr) to transfer (a force, motion, power, etc) from one part of a mechanical system to another
Related Words
See carry.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of transmit
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English transmitten, from Latin trānsmittere “to send across,” from trāns- trans- + mittere “to send”
Explanation
If you’re an international spy, you might transmit secret messages using a special code written in invisible ink. If you aren’t a spy, you could probably just use email. Whatever your circumstances, when you transmit information, you send. You can transmit things from person to person or from one thing to another. The airwaves can be used to transmit radio or TV signals, for example, and computers can transmit messages over a network. This verb often describes messages or data being sent, but you can also transmit ideas, beliefs, or attitude. In addition, transmit can describe the spread of disease, like mosquitoes that can transmit disease when they bite.
Vocabulary lists containing transmit
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Send a Message: Mit and Miss
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It would also give Pakistan an incentive to transmit communications from the U.S. and Iran without putting a spin of its own.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026
We are in a moment when the institutions that produce and transmit knowledge—K–12 schools, universities, archives, and media outlets—are under sustained pressure.
From Slate • May 14, 2026
Infected humans can then transmit the virus to other people.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
The only hantavirus type that can transmit from person to person -- the Andes virus -- has been confirmed among those who have tested positive, fuelling international concern.
From Barron's • May 10, 2026
Mendel’s question was microscopic: How does a single organism transmit information to its offspring over a single generation?
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
