transition

transition [tran-zish-uhn, -sish-] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin noun

1. movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change: the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
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.

verb (used without object)

4. to make a transition: He had difficulty transitioning from enlisted man to officer.
5. 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.

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 formstran·si·tion·al, tran·si·tion·a·ry [tran-zish-uh-ner-ee, -sish-] /trænˈzɪʃ əˌnɛr i, -ˈsɪʃ-/, adjectivetran·si·tion·al·ly, adverbnon·tran·si·tion·al, adjectivenon·tran·si·tion·al·ly, adverbun·tran·si·tion·al, adjectiveun·tran·si·tion·al·ly, adverbSynonyms for transition 1. changeover, passing, conversion. Examples from the Web for transitionary Historical Examples of transitionary

Not much beyond a century has passed since these were in the same convulsive and transitionary state as the Marquesans of to-day.

In the South Seas

Robert Louis Stevenson

There no transitionary stratum extends between the primeval granite and the erupted rocks.

The Desert World

Arthur Mangin

Mr. Stubbs remarks on the Assemblies of the transitionary period in pp. 465, 469 should be specially studied.

The Growth of the English Constitution

Edward A. Freeman

British Dictionary definitions for transitionary transition 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

Derived Formstransitional or rare transitionary, adjectivetransitionally, adverbWord Origin for transition C16: from Latin transitio; see transient Word Origin and History for transitionary 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).