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

The industry’s transition to larger, more complex four-stroke engines helped foster an increase in PWCs’ average size and displacement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Next week, will see a transition to milder more humid conditions.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Deaths surrounding the transition to parenthood often have more to do with social vulnerability than biology, and many of them can be prevented.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

"The transition to next-generation HBM will open up the opportunity to renegotiate prices" for Samsung, "helping to guarantee solid margins," the Shinhan Securities note said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Key hallmarks of this transition included the development of agriculture, metallurgy, complex technology, centralized government, and writing.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

The list of companies that have ushered in new CEOs in planned transitions this year includes Walmart, Disney, Coca-Cola, and Apple.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Neurons may use large amounts of ATP during REM sleep to support memory-related synaptic reorganization, communication between the hippocampus and cortex, or broad transitions across brain circuits.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

I’m into transitions and things like that and he called them “Gozintas.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Beyond debates surrounding regulatory policy, investors should be mindful that volatility is increasing as the AI trade transitions into a new phase — one that’s more dependent on debt instead of free cash flow.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

He had only seen and heard the world as it always was: no boundaries, only transitions through all distances and time.

From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko

Related Words

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