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transition

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

movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change: the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Music.
  1. a passing from one key to another; modulation.
  2. a brief modulation; a modulation used in passing.
  3. a sudden, unprepared modulation.
a passage from one scene to another by sound effects, music, etc., as in a television program, theatrical production, or the like.

verb (used without object)

to make a transition: He had difficulty transitioning from enlisted man to officer.
to change from one gender identity to another or to align one's dress, behavior, etc., with one's gender identity: My friend is transitioning without hormone therapy or surgery.

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RELATED WORDS

conditional, interim, temporary, protean, unsettled, varying, capricious, unpredictable, fickle, unstable, volatile, mercurial, fluctuating, intervening, medium, central, center, fair, average, median

Nearby words

  1. transit instrument,
  2. transit number,
  3. transit shed,
  4. transit theodolite,
  5. transitable,
  6. transition area,
  7. transition element,
  8. transition elements,
  9. transition gyrus,
  10. transition mutation

Origin of transition

1545–55; < Latin trānsitiōn- (stem of trānsitiō) a going across, equivalent to trānsit(us) (past participle of transīre to cross; cf. transit) + -iōn- -ion
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for transitional

British Dictionary definitions for transitional

transition

/ (trænˈzɪʃən) /

noun

change or passage from one state or stage to another
the period of time during which something changes from one state or stage to another
music
  1. a movement from one key to another; modulation
  2. a linking passage between two divisions in a composition; bridge
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
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
a sentence, passage, etc, that connects a topic to one that follows or that links sections of a written work
Derived Formstransitional or rare transitionary, adjectivetransitionally, adverb

Word Origin for transition

C16: from Latin transitio; 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

Word Origin and History for transitional

transition

n.

1550s, from Latin transitionem (nominative transitio) "a going across or over," noun of action from past participle stem of transire "go or cross over" (see transient).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper