v. [f. TRANS- 1 + L. littera letter, written symbol + -ATE3.] trans. To replace (letters or characters of one language) by those of another used to represent the same sounds; to write (a word, etc.) in the characters of another alphabet. Hence Transliterated ppl. a.
1861. Max Müller, in Sat. Rev., 9 March, 247/1. Many names, not only proper names, but the technical terms also of the Buddhist creed, had to be preserved in Chinese. They were not to be translated, but to be trans-literated. But how was this to be effected with a language which, like Chinese, has no phonetic alphabet?
1861. G. Moore, Lost Tribes, 158. I transliterate the words into modern Hebrew letters.
1871. Earle, Philol. Eng. Tongue, § 190. To master this alphabet and transliterate passages of English into it.
1884. American, VII. 378. The transliterated pages and the Devanagari can be kept in sight at the same time.
