Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The character of being transitive, as a group.

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

  • noun grammar The degree in which any one verb can take/govern objects.
  • noun mathematics The property of being transitive.

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

  • noun (logic and mathematics) a relation between three elements such that if it holds between the first and second and it also holds between the second and third it must necessarily hold between the first and third
  • noun the grammatical relation created by a transitive verb

Etymologies

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Examples

  • ˜said of™ primary substances, so is the genus (recall the transitivity of the ˜said of™ relation).

    Aristotle's Metaphysics Cohen, S. Marc 2008

  • Unless there are constraints on how the objects of choice are individuated, conditions of rationality such as transitivity are empty.

    Philosophy of Economics Hausman, Daniel M. 2008

  • These theorems show that if preferences among acts meet certain constraints, such as transitivity, then there exist a probability function and a utility function (given a choice of scale) that generate expected utilities agreeing with preferences.

    Causal Decision Theory Weirich, Paul 2008

  • Felix: Interesting example of the "transitivity" of the verb "heal" in the context of my discussion.

    On Healing 1 Dinosaur 2007

  • I have illustrated how we might develop a rule of transitivity which is useful on journeys from place to place.

    Half an Hour 2009

  • 'transitivity' is used in a more expanded semantic sense than that used in traditional grammars where it simply serves to identify verbs which take direct objects.

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows geniusroi 2010

  • 'transitivity' is used in a more expanded semantic sense than that used in traditional grammars where it simply serves to identify verbs which take direct objects.

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows geniusroi 2010

  • However, the irreducibility of a group representation does not entail the transitivity of the group action, and neglect of this fact has a tendency to lead some authors astray.

    Archive 2009-02-01 Gordon McCabe 2009

  • The somewhat simplistic idea of "utility" is certainly helpful in many cases and has a cogent theoretical basis in the assumptions of transitivity, completeness, etc. of preferences.

    The Malthusian Trap, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • There are any number of highly educated attacks on some of the foundations of economic thought (rationality, in the sense of transitivity, complete ordering, etc.) that make strong cases that people are simply incapable of acting in the way economics would demand (Sen, for instance).

    Economics and its Enemies, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

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