transitive

transitive

English

Set theory: An example of a transitivity relation.

Etymology

From Latin trānsitīvus, from trānsitus, from trāns (“across”) + itus, from eō (“to go”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: trăn'zĭtĭv, IPA^(key): /ˈtɹænzɪtɪv/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

transitive (not comparable)

1. Making a transit or passage.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Poet:

     For all symbols are fluxional; all language is vehicular and transitive, and is good, as ferries and horses are, for conveyance, not as farms and houses are, for homestead.

2. Affected by transference of signification.
   • (Can we date this quote?), John Stuart Mill, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     By far the greater part of the transitive or derivative applications of words depend on casual and unaccountable caprices of the feelings or the fancy.

3. (grammar, of a verb) Taking a direct object or objects.

   Antonym: intransitive

   The English verb "to notice" is a transitive verb, because we say things like "She noticed a problem".

   • (Can we date this quote?), G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy:

     Men have tried to turn "revolutionise" from a transitive to an intransitive verb.

4. (set theory, of a relation on a set) 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.

   Antonyms: intransitive, nontransitive

   "Is an ancestor of" is a transitive relation: if Alice is an ancestor of Bob, and Bob is an ancestor of Carol, then Alice is an ancestor of Carol.

5. (algebra, of a group action) Such that, for any two elements of the acted-upon set, some group element maps the first to the second.
6. (graph theory, of a graph) Such that, for any two vertices there exists an automorphism which maps one to the other.

Derived terms

• ambitransitive
• bitransitive
• complex transitive
• ditransitive
• monotransitive
• quasi-transitive
• semi-transitive
• transitively
• transitiveness
• transitive verb
• unitransitive

 

Translations

making a transit or passage

Catalan: transitiu (ca) Portuguese: transitivo (pt), transitório (pt) Romanian: tranzitiv (ro)

Russian: перехо́дный (ru) (perexódnyj) Spanish: transitivo (es) Ukrainian: перехідни́й (uk) (perexidnýj)

affected by transference of signification

Dutch: overdrachtelijk (nl)

Ukrainian: о́бразний (óbraznyj)

grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects

Albanian: kalimtar (sq) Arabic: مُتَعَدٍّ‎ (mutaʿaddin) (indefinite) Armenian: անցողական (hy) (ancʿołakan) Belarusian: перахо́дны (pjeraxódny) Bulgarian: прехо́ден (bg) (prehóden) Catalan: transitiu (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 及物 (zh) (jíwù) Czech: přechodný (cs) Danish: transitiv (da) Dutch: overgankelijk (nl), transitief (nl) Esperanto: transitiva (eo) Finnish: transitiivinen (fi), siirtyvä (fi) French: transitif (fr) Galician: transitivo Georgian: გარდამავალი (gardamavali) German: transitiv (de) Greek: μεταβατικός (el) (metavatikós) Ancient: μεταβατικός (metabatikós), ἀλλοπαθής (allopathḗs), διαβιβαστικός (diabibastikós) Hungarian: tárgyas (hu) Irish: aistreach Italian: transitivo (it) Japanese: 他動 (たどう, tadō) Korean: 타동 (tadong) (他動)

Kurdish: têper (ku), gerguhêz (ku) Macedonian: преоден (preoden) Mongolian: тусах (mn) (tusah) Norman: transitif Norwegian: transitiv (no) Novial: transitiv Occitan: transitiu (oc) Polish: przechodni (pl) Portuguese: transitivo (pt) Romanian: tranzitiv (ro) Russian: перехо́дный (ru) (perexódnyj) Scottish Gaelic: aisigeach, aistreach, asdolach Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: пре́лазан, прије́лазан Roman: prélazan (sh), prijélazan (sh) Slovak: prechodný Slovene: prehoden Spanish: transitivo (es) Swedish: transitiv (sv) Turkish: geçişli (tr) Ukrainian: перехідни́й (uk) (perexidnýj) Vietnamese: ngoại (vi) Volapük: loveädik (vo)

set theory, of a relation on a set

Chinese: Mandarin: 传递性 (zh) (chuándìxìng) Czech: tranzitivní (cs) Finnish: transitiivinen (fi) French: transitif (fr) German: transitiv (de) Icelandic: gegnvirkur Japanese: 推移的 (すいいてき, suiiteki) Polish: przechodni (pl) Portuguese: transitivo (pt)

Romanian: tranzitiv (ro) Russian: перехо́дный (ru) (perexódnyj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: тра̏нзитӣван Roman: trȁnzitīvan (sh) Spanish: transitivo (es) Swedish: transitiv (sv) Tagalog: palipat Ukrainian: перехідни́й (uk) (perexidnýj)

of a group action

Finnish: transitiivinen (fi) Polish: tranzytywny

Portuguese: transitivo (pt)

of a graph

Finnish: transitiivinen (fi)

Hebrew: טרנזיטיבי‎

See also

• reflexive
• symmetric

References

• transitive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• revisitant

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʁɑ̃.zi.tiv/
• Rhymes: -iv
• Homophone: transitives

Adjective

transitive

1. feminine singular of transitif

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German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

transitive

1. inflection of transitiv:
   1. strong and mixed nominative and accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative and accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine and neuter singular

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Italian

Adjective

transitive

1. Feminine plural of adjective transitivo.

Anagrams

• intervista, intestarvi, intraviste, rinvestita, rinvitaste, strinatevi, vetrinista

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Latin

Adjective

trānsitīve

1. vocative masculine singular of trānsitīvus