transition

American  

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

noun

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

• transitional adjective
• transitionally adverb
• transitionary adjective

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

Anaconda offers funds — not open to U.S. investors — aimed at that transition, through electrification, metals and mining and oil and gas.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 29, 2026

Raman called the entire package “a managed transition that preserves what works, fixes what hasn’t, and finally gives the City the direct oversight needed to ensure that public dollars produce real outcomes.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026

“In China, intense competition and subdued demand continued to weigh on the market amid a transition year marked by model changeovers across the portfolio,” the company said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026

Ministers and climate envoys aim to revive the transition from fossil fuels at the inaugural conference in Santa Marta, one of the country's busiest coal hubs in a nation heavily reliant on energy exports.

From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026

I delegated what I could to Melissa and other members of my transition team.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Related Words

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