mistranslates

Renders words wrongly

Mistranslates means to translate incorrectly, rendering words or meaning inaccurately from one language to another.

The error may be minor or may completely distort the original sense: The subtitle mistranslates the joke, losing the pun entirely.

By extension, mistranslate can mean to misrepresent or misunderstand any kind of message: He mistranslates her silence as agreement.

linguistic

interpreter

One who conveys meaning between languages

localizationAdapting for specific markets
subtitlesOn-screen dialogue text
dubbingPost-production sound replacement

bilingual · multilingual · literal · idiomatic · gloss · rendering

error

inaccuracy

Lack of precision

blunderFoolish, costly mistake
misrenderDepict or display inaccurately
misreportRelay information inaccurately

misstate · garble · miscommunicate · misquote · typo · erratum · oversight · flaw · slipup · gaffe

distortion

misrepresent

Depict inaccurately or falsely

twistRotating motion or surprise
skewTwist from straight
warpBend from true form

falsify · contort · slant · pervert · mangle · distort · garble · misconstrue · bend · spin

misunderstanding

misinterpret

Understand something incorrectly

misreadInterpret text incorrectly
misconstrueUnderstand incorrectly
misapprehendGrasp incorrectly

miscomprehend · misconceive · misperceive · misunderstand · misjudge · confuse · muddle

Opposites

faithfulness to source

mistranslatespreserves

Cooked fruit in sugar

Family

mistranslation, mistranslate, mistranslated, mistranslating, mistranslations

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Everyday, not technical · Rated G