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

He thinks the world needs a new system for managing the transition and said he doubts that current bureaucratic structures are equipped to deal with the challenges AI may introduce.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

Now in her mid-40s, Curlee in 2013 became the first CIA officer to transition while working at the agency.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

Having gone through that process so many times, Anderson said the transition from Straus to Smerud has been seamless.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

He needs wins just to settle post-Guardiola nerves and ease the transition.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

The underlying reason why this transition was piecemeal is that food production systems evolved as a result of the accumulation of many separate decisions about allocating time and effort.

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

He argued that AI will soon also affect blue-collar work, and the breadth and speed make it different from other workplace transitions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

"Our findings reveal that the Earth's interior preconditions landscapes to glaciation, determining when and where major climate transitions like the glaciation of Antarctica become possible," explained Prof Gernon.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

Formatting, finding repetition, smoothing transitions, the structural diagnosis of a chapter that won’t cohere—this is where the hours go.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

In “The Rivals of Amziah King,” the moment with the queen bee is when the film transitions from its wild, wacky — but intentional — world-building into a sleek Southern noir.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

He sensed the rapid flight of her hidden thoughts: the transitions showed on her frowning, tense face.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

Related Words

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