Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Grammar Expressing an action carried from the subject to the object; requiring a direct object to complete meaning. Used of a verb or verb construction.
  • adjective Characterized by or involving transition.
  • adjective Logic & Mathematics Of or relating to a binary relation such that, whenever one element is related to a second element and the second element is related to a third element, then the first element is also related to the third element. Examples of transitive relations are “less than” for real numbers (a < b and b < c implies a < c) and divisibility for integers (a divides b and b divides c mean that a divides c).
  • noun A transitive verb.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having the power of passing, or making transition; passing over into something.
  • Effected by, or existing as the result of, transference or extension of signification; derivative; secondary; metaphorical.
  • In grammar, taking a direct object; followed by a substantive in an accusative relation: said of a verb, or of the action expressed by a verb.
  • Serving as a medium or means of transition.
  • noun A transitive verb.
  • In Eskimo gram., noting the case expressing the subject of a transitive verb and the owner of an object. Also called subjective.
  • In mathematics, having the quality or power of transmutation, transmission, or transition: as, a group transitive in respect of a set of objects.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective rare Having the power of making a transit, or passage.
  • adjective Effected by transference of signification.
  • adjective (Gram.) Passing over to an object; expressing an action which is not limited to the agent or subject, but which requires an object to complete the sense.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Making a transit or passage.
  • adjective Affected by transference of signification.
  • adjective grammar, of a verb Taking an object or objects.
  • adjective set theory Having the property that if an element x is related to y and y is related to z, then x is necessarily related to z.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a verb (or verb construction) that requires an object in order to be grammatical
  • adjective designating a verb that requires a direct object to complete the meaning

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Late Latin trānsitīvus, passing over (translation of Greek diabibastikos), from trānsitus, past participle of trānsīre, to go over; see transient.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin transitivus, from transitus, from trans ("across") + itus, from eo ("to go").

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