Translation like any concept in humanities is a controversial notion which defies definition. Examples include the concept of cultural translation introduced by Homi Bhabha, the cultural translation known in British Social Anthropology, the term translation in casual American English, and the one referred to in source-oriented and target-oriented translation studies. This qualitative descriptive study intends to shed light on the perception of translation and some of its related notions construed by the prospective Iranian translators. The used sample comprises of sixty-six Iranian PhD and MA students of English translation at three Iranian universities. The results demonstrate that the understanding of some dimensions of the notion of translation is apparently more straightforward than their internationally discussed definitions in the literature. The study mainly focuses to seek students’ interpretation in terms of ethics of translation, translation and manipulation, translator in the society, and translator-translation relation.

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