intransitive

[in-tran-si-tiv]Grammar

adjective

noting or having the quality of an intransitive verb.

noun

intransitive verb.

Origin of intransitive

From the Latin word intrānsitīvus, dating back to 1605–15. See in-³, transitive

Related formsin·tran·si·tive·ly, adverbin·tran·si·tive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for intransitive

Historical Examples of intransitive

The absence of the nouns, in and of itself, makes it intransitive.
A Handbook of the English Language
Robert Gordon Latham
The intransitive meaning "to bow down" is taken by some commentators.
The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 1
A. Maclaren
So, for an intransitive verb we have, either “I am gone,” or “it is gone by me.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 4
Various
The beauty of Chinese verbs is that they are all transitive or intransitive at pleasure.
Instigations
Ezra Pound
It has come from generalizing all intransitive words into one.
Instigations
Ezra Pound

British Dictionary definitions for intransitive

intransitive

adjective

1. denoting a verb when it does not require a direct object
2. denoting a verb that customarily does not require a direct object"to faint" is an intransitive verb
3. (as noun)a verb in either of these categories
denoting an adjective or noun that does not require any particular noun phrase as a referent
logic maths (of a relation) having the property that if it holds between one argument and a second, and between the second and a third, it must fail to hold between the first and the third"being the mother of" is an intransitive relation

Compare transitive, pseudo-intransitive

Derived Formsintransitively, adverbintransitivity or intransitiveness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for intransitive

adj.

1610s, from Late Latin intransitivus "not passing over" (to another person), Priscian's term, from Latin in- "not" (see in- (1)) + transitivus "that may pass over," from transire "to pass over" (see transitive).