Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To convey or cause to pass from one place, person, or thing to another.
  • intransitive verb Law To make over the possession or legal title of (property, for example); convey.
  • intransitive verb To convey (a design, for example) from one surface to another, as by impression.
  • intransitive verb To move oneself from one location or job to another.
  • intransitive verb To withdraw from one educational institution or course of study and enroll in another.
  • intransitive verb To change from one public conveyance to another.
  • noun The conveyance or removal of something from one place, person, or thing to another.
  • noun One who transfers or is transferred, as to a new school.
  • noun A design conveyed by contact from one surface to another.
  • noun A ticket entitling a passenger to change from one public conveyance to another as part of one trip.
  • noun A place where such a change is made.
  • noun Law A conveyance of title or property from one person to another.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun plural In archery, sheets upon which the hits, score, and golds of every archer in a shooting-match are copied from the several target-papers after each distance is shot. The transfers are the official record from which the prize-list is made up.
  • To convey from one place or person to another; transport; transmit; pass or hand over: usually followed by to (unto, into), sometimes by on (upon): as, to transfer a thing from one hand to the other.
  • To make over the possession or control of; convey, as a right, from one person to another; sell; give: as, to transfer a title to land by deed, or the property in a bill of exchange by indorsement.
  • To convey by means of transfer-paper, as a written or drawn design to the lithographic stone from which it is to be printed.
  • To remove from one background to another for decorative purposes.
  • noun Removal or conveyance from one place or person to another; transference.
  • noun The conveyance of right, title, or property, either real or personal, from one person to another, either by sale, by gift, or otherwise.
  • noun That which is transferred.
  • noun In railway transportation: A point on a railway where the cars are ferried or transferred over a river or bay.
  • noun A ferry-boat or barge for transporting freight-cars.
  • noun The system or process of conveying passengers and baggage in vehicles from one railway-station in a city to another railway-station or to a steamer: as, a transfer company.
  • noun A ticket issued to a passenger on a line of transportation, giving passage on a connecting line or branch.
  • noun In the United States Post-office Department, the loan of funds from one account to another by authority of the post-master-general.
  • noun In naval tactics. See advance, 12.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To convey from one place or person another; to transport, remove, or cause to pass, to another place or person.
  • transitive verb To make over the possession or control of; to pass; to convey, as a right, from one person to another; to give.
  • transitive verb To remove from one substance or surface to another.
  • noun The act of transferring, or the state of being transferred; the removal or conveyance of a thing from one place or person to another.
  • noun (Law) The conveyance of right, title, or property, either real or personal, from one person to another, whether by sale, by gift, or otherwise.
  • noun That which is transferred.
  • noun A picture, or the like, removed from one body or ground to another, as from wood to canvas, or from one piece of canvas to another.
  • noun A drawing or writing printed off from one surface on another, as in ceramics and in many decorative arts.
  • noun (Mil.) A soldier removed from one troop, or body of troops, and placed in another.
  • noun (Med.) A pathological process by virtue of which a unilateral morbid condition on being abolished on one side of the body makes its appearance in the corresponding region upon the other side.
  • noun one of the days fixed by the Bank of England for the transfer, free of charge, of bank stock and government funds. These days are the first five business days in the week before three o'clock. Transfers may be made on Saturdays on payment of a fee of 2s. 6d.
  • noun an office or department where transfers of stocks, etc., are made.
  • noun a prepared paper used by draughtsmen, engravers, lithographers, etc., for transferring impressions.
  • noun (Railroad) Same as Traverse table. See under Traverse.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To move or pass from one place, person or thing to another.
  • verb transitive To convey the impression of (something) from one surface to another.
  • verb intransitive To be or become transferred.
  • verb transitive (law) To arrange for something to officially belong to or be controlled by somebody else.
  • noun uncountable The act of conveying or removing something from one place, person or thing to another.
  • noun countable An instance of conveying or removing from one place, person or thing to another; a transferal.
  • noun countable A design conveyed by contact from one surface to another; a heat transfer.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb change from one vehicle or transportation line to another
  • verb cause to change ownership

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English transferren, from Old French transferer, from Latin trānsferre : trāns-, trans- + ferre, to carry; see bher- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin trānsferō ("I bear across").

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Examples

  • Parry argued that a transfer window would ultimately improve the quality of play on the pitch in England – "That has to be the objective of the Premier League" – but he seems to have failed to convince the smaller clubs of the case as the phrase "transfer window" isn't uttered again in the hallowed pages of the Guardian archive until 1998.

    Why does the Premier League have a January transfer window? | The Knowledge 2012

  • That dollar makes the title transfer legally binding and is a mere legalrequirement.

    In Leadership Test, Pelosi Bets the House 2009

  • Liberal Justice Ruth Ginsberg conceded that no matter the outcome of the arguments before the court, Congress can simply keep passing laws to transfer land to the veterans group until the title transfer passes judicial muster.

    Jeff Schweitzer: Blind Faith: Supreme Court Meltdown 2009

  • The practical effect of the title transfer was negligible and did not grant any more land than that already under Aboriginal ownership.

    Archive 2008-02-01 Bill Kerr 2008

  • The practical effect of the title transfer was negligible and did not grant any more land than that already under Aboriginal ownership.

    Rudd's previous record in indigenous affairs Bill Kerr 2008

  • On Monday, not ten minutes after completing the title transfer for my new car and getting new plates and stickers and junk, I was rearended by a stupid goddamn SUV.

    idiot-milk Diary Entry idiot-milk 2005

  • Afterwards we headed to the DMV for the title transfer, but it would have been at least a two hour wait…and we each had our young sons with us.

    weapons of massdistraction › Membership Has Its Privileges 2004

  • The firm also found a number of foreclosure sales that occurred less than 20 days after the Notice of Trustees sale, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the title transfer to the new owner.

    Forbes.com: News Daniel Fisher 2012

  • The phrase "transfer union" has become a dirty word in Germany, where much of the electorate is vehemently against their money being used to bail out less prudent countries.

    The Guardian World News Helen Pidd 2011

  • The title transfer bore a signature Hiss acknowledged to be his own, notarized by Hiss '

    Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] FOIA 2010

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