[ad. post-cl.L. transplantāre (Itala, Luc. xvii. 6), f. TRANS- + plantāre to PLANT. Cf. F. transplanter (16th c.).]
1. trans. To remove (a plant) from one place or soil and plant it in another. Also fig.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., III. 504. Transplaunte hem so, & sone up wol they spring.
1555. Eden, Decades, 135. Transplantyng the roote therof, [he] brought it from wyldenes to a better kynde.
1605. Timme, Quersit., I. xvi. 86. They are to be transplanted into home gardens.
1664. Evelyn, Kal. Hort., Aug. (1729), 213. Transplant such Lettuce as you will have abide all Winter.
1768. Sterne, Sent. Journ., I. In the Desobligeant. The man who first transplanted the grape of Burgundy to the Cape of Good Hope.
1842. Tennyson, Amphion, x. Methods of transplanting trees.
2. To convey or remove from one place to another; to transport; esp. to bring (people, a colony, etc.) from one country to settle in another.
1555. W. Watreman, Fardle Facions, Pref. 9. Now gan thei tattempte … to transplante their progenie, and offspring into places unenhabited.
1606. in Calr. S. P. Irel., 553. The Grames and others to be transplanted into Ireland were charged with many children.
c. 1630. Risdon, Surv. Devon, § 308 (1810), 317. These lands were transplanted into the name of the Poultons.
1769. E. Bancroft, Guiana, 120. The Bull and the Cow … have been successfully transplanted into Guiana.
1860. Pusey, Min. Proph., 43. The policy of transplanting nations … was adopted, as a regular part of Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian policy.
1899. A. E. Garvie, Ritschlian Theol., V. vii. 211. We cannot even transplant ourselves into the religious life of a pious Israelite.
3. Surg. To transfer (an organ or portion of tissue) from one part of the body, or from one person or animal, to another.
1786. [see transplanted below].
1906. Daily Chron., 22 Sept., 6/7. A … case in which a child … suffering from cretinisin, had a portion of its mother’s thyroid gland transplanted into its spleen. Ibid. Successful experiments in transplanting the blood vessels of animals.
1909. Westm. Gaz., 5 July, 6/3. A dachshund, to which the kidneys of a fox-terrier had been transplanted … was apparently in perfect health.
4. intr. † a. (for refl.) To leave one place of abode and settle in another; to emigrate. Obs.
1608. [see TRANSPLANTING].
1655. Clarke Papers (Camden), III. 24. The Irish are unwilling to transplant or prove theire qualificacions, but they will bee forc’d to goe and make way for the English planters.
1662. Jesuits’ Reasons (1675), 130. Why … not … take up your roots and transplant?
b. (for pass.) To bear transplanting.
1796. C. Marshall, Gardening, xv. (1813), 248. Peas will transplant, and therefore broken rows may be made up.
1817–8. Cobbett, Resid. U.S. (1822), 302. Persons of advanced age, of settled habits,… do not … ‘transplant well.’ Of all such persons, Farmers transplant worst.
1846. J. Baxter’s Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), II. 361. Transplanting.—Swedish turnips transplant very well, like the common cabbage; but the true turnip, the white globe or yellow, do not transplant.
Hence Transplanted ppl. a.
1765. Museum Rust., IV. 232. A six shilling book … on the subject of transplanted lucerne.
1786. J. Hunter, Treat. Venereal Disease, VII. i. § 1 (1810), 586. The transplanted tooth fastened extremely well, and continued so for about a month.
1833. Alison, Hist. Europe (1849), I. i. § 37. 83. Any transplanted Irishman, found out of his district, might be put to death by the first person who met him.
