To transmit means to send or pass something from one place or person to another. When a radio station transmits a signal, it sends music and voices through the air to your radio. When you catch a cold from a classmate, germs are transmitted from them to you. Your parents might transmit family stories and traditions to you, passing down knowledge from their generation to yours.

The word appears constantly in science and technology. Cell phone towers transmit data so you can send messages. Your nerves transmit signals from your fingers to your brain so you know when something is hot. A transmission is the thing being sent (like a radio transmission) or the act of sending it. In cars, the transmission is a mechanical system that transmits power from the engine to the wheels.

Scientists talk about diseases that transmit easily, meaning they spread quickly from person to person. Light transmits through clear glass, but not through a brick wall. Even your television transmits images and sound into your living room, though we usually say it receives transmissions from broadcast stations.

The key idea is movement: something travels from point A to point B. Whether it's information, energy, disease, or tradition, transmitting means sending it along its way.