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 Take Care of America’s Veterans Act includes some 60 bipartisan provisions that aim to help veterans better transition into civilian life and the workforce.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

“And once it makes that transition from the warmer to the cooler waters, it’s going to fall apart rapidly. So really, it’s just the remnants that are moving forward.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

He said experts had since said the transition from child to adult hospitals should be done more gradually with a bigger grace period, rather than an immediate move upon turning 18.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

“Event Horizon” demonstrates a major theme in Neill’s most gruesome creature feature performances: the slow, onscreen transition from good to evil.

From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026

At the Yayoi transition, perhaps nothing more happened than that Jomon society received cold-resistant rice seeds and information about paddy irrigation from Korea, enabling people to produce more food and increase their numbers.

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

Once Poland's black gold, the sector is now surviving only on life support as the country slowly transitions to cleaner energy sources.

From Barron's ● 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

Fery still relies on his movement to defend and then surge forward when he transitions to attack.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

In each of those transitions, the demands on people may have changed, but people were still needed.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

“I meant the last few days. I realize transitions like that are difficult.”

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

Related Words

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