A person or program that changes spoken or written words from one language into another.
It comes from Latin 'translator', from 'transferre' and 'latum' meaning 'to carry across'. The word literally refers to someone who 'carries' meaning across languages.
A good translator doesn’t just swap words; they move jokes, emotions, and cultural hints into a new world where they still make sense. In a way, translators are cultural time-travel guides, helping ideas survive border crossings.
Translation work has often been feminized and undervalued, with many women translators under-credited or omitted, while male authors received primary recognition. Gendered language in source and target texts also shapes how translators render roles and identities.
When referring to translators, avoid defaulting to male pronouns; acknowledge translators by name and credit their interpretive work, not just the original (often male) authors.
["interpreter (for spoken language)","localization specialist"]
Women have been central to literary, religious, and technical translation, shaping how ideas cross cultures even when their names were minimized or erased.
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