transit

[ tran-sit, -zit ]

/ ˈtræn sɪt, -zɪt /

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noun

the act or fact of passing across or through; passage from one place to another.

conveyance or transportation from one place to another, as of persons or goods, especially, local public transportation: city transit.Compare mass transit.

a transition or change.

Astronomy.

the passage of a heavenly body across the meridian of a given location or through the field of a telescope.
the passage of Mercury or Venus across the disk of the sun, or of a satellite or its shadow across the face of its primary.
meridian circle.

Astrology. the passage of a planet in aspect to another planet or a specific point in a horoscope.

Surveying.

Also called transit instrument. an instrument, as a theodolite, having a telescope that can be transited, used for measuring horizontal and sometimes vertical angles.
a repeating transit theodolite.

(initial capital letter)U.S. Aerospace. one of a series of satellites for providing positional data to ships and aircraft.

verb (used with object), tran·sit·ed, tran·sit·ing.

to pass across or through.

Surveying. to turn (the telescope of a transit) in a vertical plane in order to reverse direction; plunge.

Astronomy. to cross (a meridian, celestial body, etc.).

verb (used without object), tran·sit·ed, tran·sit·ing.

to pass over or through something; make a transit.

Astronomy. to make a transit across a meridian, celestial body, etc.

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Origin of transit

1400–50; late Middle English (noun and v.) <Latin trānsitus a going across, passage, equivalent to trānsi-, variant stem of trānsīre to cross (trāns-trans- + -īre to go) + -tus suffix of v. action

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use transit in a sentence

Just as the Jubilee was wrapping up in London, as it happens, Venus transited the Sun.
After the Queen’s Jubilee, a Sobering Summer|Christopher Dickey|June 8, 2012|DAILY BEAST
And it was all untrue; I found out afterwards how they were transited.
The Possessed|Fyodor Dostoevsky

British Dictionary definitions for transit

transit

/ (ˈtrænsɪt, ˈtrænz-) /

noun

the passage or conveyance of goods or people
(as modifier)a transit visa

a change or transition

a route

astronomy

the passage of a celestial body or satellite across the face of a relatively larger body as seen from the earth
the apparent passage of a celestial body across the meridian, caused by the earth's diurnal rotation

astrology the passage of a planet across some special point on the zodiac

in transit while being conveyed; during passage

verb

to make a transit through or over (something)

astronomy to make a transit across (a celestial body or the meridian)

to cause (the telescope of a surveying instrument) to turn over or (of such a telescope) to be turned over in a vertical plane so that it points in the opposite direction

Derived forms of transit

transitable, adjective

Word Origin for transit

C15: from Latin transitus a going over, from transīre to pass over; see transient

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

Scientific definitions for transit

transit

[ trăn′sĭt ]

The passage of a smaller celestial body or its shadow across the disk of a larger celestial body. As observed from Earth, Mercury and Venus are the only planets of the solar system that make transits of the Sun, because they are the only planets with orbits that lie between Earth and the Sun. Mercury makes an average of 13 transits of the Sun each century. Transits of Venus across the Sun are much rarer, with only 7 of them having occurred between 1639 and 2004. In contrast, transits of Jupiter's moons across its disk are common occurrences. Compare occultation.

The passage of a celestial body across the celestial meridian (the great circle on the celestial sphere passing through the celestial poles and an observer's zenith). For any observer, the object is at its highest in the sky at its transit of the observer's meridian. See more at celestial meridian.

transit

Origin of transit

Words related to transit

How to use transit in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for transit

Derived forms of transit

Word Origin for transit

Scientific definitions for transit