transcription

Etymology

From Middle French transcription, or directly from Latin transcriptiōnem, from trānscrībō (“transcribe”).

noun

1. The act or process of transcribing.
   One might eaſier beleeue that the error was committed in the tranſcription of the copy from Ptolomies library, and ſo that it had a ſucceſſiue propagation through all the copies diſperſed. 1610, chapter 13, in John Healey, transl., The Citie of God, London: George Eld, translation of De civitate Dei contra paganos by St. Augustine, page 548
   … the error originated in a mistaken transcription, as the locomotive involved was No. 61271 (a B1 4-6-0), not No. 61771. 1961 December, “Motive Power Miscellany: London Midland Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 759
   In other words, data are (re)constructed in the process of transcription as a result of multiple decisions that reflect both theoretical and ostensibly pragmatic considerations. 2003, James Holstein, Jaber F. Gubrium, Inside Interviewing: New Lenses, New Concerns, SAGE, page 268
2. Something that has been transcribed, including:
   1. (music) An adaptation of a composition.
      These frame tale interludes frequently include transcriptions of Italian folk songs.
      In other words, the adantino was written first as an independent piece; it is, moreover, hardly more than an elaborated transcription of the little song, ‘Im Herbste’, written in 1828, with its two exactly similar strophes (each only five bars long) and four-bar piano epilogue. 2013, Gerald Abraham, Slavonic and Romantic Music: Essays and Studies, Faber & Faber
   2. (broadcasting) A recorded radio or television programme.
      From the outset, Selvage had hoped to interest NBC or CBS in broadcasting the American Family Robinson on a sustaining basis. Neither did, and the series ended up in transcription, recorded and circulated to individual stations by the World Broadcasting System. 1999, William L. Bird, "Better Living": Advertising, Media and the New Vocabulary of Business Leadership, 1935-1955, Northwestern University Press
   3. (linguistics) A representation of speech sounds as phonetic symbols.
      While the sounds of the language [English] undergo constant change and growth, the writing system is rarely reviewed or adapted to recent changes in speech. Consequently, there is a patent need for a transcription in linguistic research and dictionaries. 1977, Ali M. Al Kasimi, Linguistics and Bilingual Dictionaries, Brill Archive, page 37
3. (obsolete) A written document.
   THeſe Ages have beene, and are to this day, much indebted to Tranſcriptions. Inventions are oft-times ſlow, where the application of things invented to the preſent State ſeemes more facile and eaſie : Hereto then ſhould the Scope of Hiſtories tend ; not onely to perſonate the Acts of men upon the Theater of this world, but likewiſe to cull out ſuch Lawes, Orders, and Precepts, as well Morall as Divine, which may benefit their preſent eſtate. 1638, Richard Braithwait, A Survey Of History: Or, A Nursery for Gentry, London: I. Okes, page 27
4. (genetics) The synthesis of RNA under the direction of DNA.
   The process in which the DNA molecule unwinds, separates its two polynucleotide strands, and synthesizes an RNA molecule from one of these DNA strands is called transcription. Genes transcribe chemical messages in the form of RNA molecules. Transcription begins at some site in the DNA duplex and ends at some other point. 2001, Richard Kowles, Solving Problems in Genetics, Springer Science & Business Media, page 315