transitive
Grammar. having the nature of a transitive verb.
characterized by or involving transition; transitional; intermediate.
passing over to or affecting something else; transeunt.
Mathematics. noting a relation in which one element in relation to a second element and the second in relation to a third element implies the first element is in relation to the third element, as the relation “less than or equal to.”
Grammar. a transitive verb.
Origin of transitive
1Other words from transitive
- tran·si·tive·ly, adverb
- tran·si·tive·ness, tran·si·tiv·i·ty, noun
- non·tran·si·tive, adjective, noun
- non·tran·si·tive·ly, adverb
- non·tran·si·tive·ness, noun
- un·tran·si·tive, adjective
- un·tran·si·tive·ly, adverb
- un·tran·si·tive·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use transitive in a sentence
Shakespeare uses the verb transitively several times, but in the sense of reconcile; as in Rich.
The Lady of the Lake | Sir Walter ScottMilton uses it transitively in Lycidas, 29: "Battening our flocks with the fresh dews of night."
The Lady of the Lake | Sir Walter ScottDare, to lurk, or cause to lurk; used both transitively and intransitively.
Did the act of conquering pass transitively over from Cæsar to Pompey?
Lectures on Language | William S. BalchShakespeare uses the verb both transitively and intransitively.
The New Hudson Shakespeare: Julius Caesar | William Shakespeare
British Dictionary definitions for transitive
/ (ˈtrænsɪtɪv) /
grammar
denoting an occurrence of a verb when it requires a direct object or denoting a verb that customarily requires a direct object: ``to find'' is a transitive verb
(as noun): these verbs are transitives
grammar denoting an adjective, such as fond, or a noun, such as husband, that requires a noun phrase and cannot be used without some implicit or explicit reference to such a noun phrase
logic maths having the property that if one object bears a relationship to a second object that also bears the same relationship to a third object, then the first object bears this relationship to the third object: mathematical equality is transitive, since if x = y and y = z then x = z
Origin of transitive
1- Compare intransitive
Derived forms of transitive
- transitively, adverb
- transitivity or transitiveness, noun
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
Scientific definitions for transitive
[ trăn′sĭ-tĭv ]
Of or relating to a mathematical or logical relation between three elements such that if the relation holds between the first and second elements and between the second and third elements, it necessarily holds between the first and third elements. The relation of being greater than in mathematics is transitive, since if a > b and b > c, then a > c.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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