transition

American  

[tran-zish-uhn, -sish-] / trænˈzɪʃ ən, -ˈsɪʃ- /

noun

transitions plural

1. movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change.

   The transition from adolescence to adulthood can be difficult.

   Synonyms:

   conversion, passing, changeover

2. Music.

   1. a passing from one key to another; modulation.

   2. a brief modulation; a modulation used in passing.

   3. a sudden, unprepared modulation.

3. a passage from one scene to another by sound effects, music, etc., as in a television program, theatrical production, or the like.

4. Also called gender transition.  the process by which a transgender person comes to openly express their gender identity, including changes to their way of dressing, acting, or speaking, to their pronouns, name, or legal gender marker, or to their physical characteristics via hormone therapy and surgery.

   When I began my transition, there was very little information online about testosterone.

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verb (used without object)

1. to make a transition.

   He had difficulty transitioning from enlisted man to officer.

2. (of a transgender person) to move toward openly expressing one's gender identity, often by making changes to one's way of dressing, acting, or speaking, to one's pronouns, name, or legal gender marker, or to one's physical characteristics via hormone therapy and surgery.

   My friend is transitioning socially, but she doesn't want hormone therapy or surgery.

transition British  

/ trænˈzɪʃən /

noun

1. change or passage from one state or stage to another

2. the period of time during which something changes from one state or stage to another

3. music

   1. a movement from one key to another; modulation

   2. a linking passage between two divisions in a composition; bridge

4. Also called: transitional.  a style of architecture that was used in western Europe in the late 11th and early 12th century, characterized by late Romanesque forms combined with early Gothic details

5. physics

   1. any change that results in a change of physical properties of a substance or system, such as a change of phase or molecular structure

   2. a change in the configuration of an atomic nucleus, involving either a change in energy level resulting from the emission of a gamma-ray photon or a transformation to another element or isotope

6. a sentence, passage, etc, that connects a topic to one that follows or that links sections of a written work

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• transitional
  adjective
• transitionary
  adjective
• transitionally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• transitions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of transition

First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin trānsitiōn-, stem of trānsitiō “passage, transit across,” from trānsit(us) “gone across” (past participle of trānsīre “to go across, pass over”; cf. transit ) + -iō -ion

Explanation

A transition is a change from one thing to the next, either in action or state of being—as in a job transition or as in the much more dramatic example of a caterpillar making a transition into a butterfly. Transition is awfully reassuring in its tidy reliance on regular forms. Trans means "cross," so when you hear it at the beginning of a word you know that it indicates crossing, as in transatlantic or translate. An odd thing happening with transition lately is that it is transitioning from its familiar form as a noun to a newer life as a verb, as in “We’re going to transition Gloria to that new job.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

transition transitions

Given that I plan to retire at the end of the year, I intend to transition from my employer’s health insurance to Medicare and begin collecting my Social Security retirement benefits.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

Some people, including Tellez, believe a diplomatic solution is still possible, in which a coalition of countries negotiates with Nicaragua’s leaders for a transition to democracy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

The way Americans perceive socialism is apparently undergoing such a transition.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

Her youngest will receive some chapter books to help them transition into Year 3, while her eldest is moving to secondary school, and Dahlia has prepped suitable books to bridge that gap from primary.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Rather ironically, the last major duty of the Adams collaboration was to supervise the transition of the federal government to its permanent location on the Potomac.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

The figure below illustrates how the model’s predicted transitions to out-of-work change for workers in six jobs ranging from low to high in AI exposure.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

Under Arena, the U.S. played a more defensive scheme and relied on quick transitions into the attack.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

The Spain manager has added layers: more versatility, more depth, more comfort in transitions, more unpredictability in the final third, more solidity.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

But difficult transitions can make for great stories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

She remembers the painful transitions to spring, the sea grapes and the rains, her skin a cicatrix.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

Related Words

• changeover
• conversion
• development
• evolution
• growth
• passage
• progress
• progression
• shift
• transformation
• upheaval