English

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Set theory: An example of a transitivity relation.

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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  • enPR: trăn'zĭtĭv, IPA(key): /ˈtɹænzɪtɪv/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

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transitive (not comparable)

  1. Making a transit or passage.
    • 1841-1843, 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.
    • 1843, John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive:
      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".
    • 1908, 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 a is related to b and b is related to c, then a is necessarily related to c.
    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.
  7. (probability) Of a set of dice: not having the intransitive property.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Noun

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transitive (plural transitives)

  1. (grammar) A transitive verb.
    • 2011, Carmen Dobrovie-Sorin, The Syntax of Romanian: Comparative Studies in Romance, page 136:
      This means that subcategorization properties do not allow us to distinguish between transitives and intransitives (both types of verbs are allowed, but not obliged, to take a direct object).

References

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Anagrams

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French

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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transitive

  1. feminine singular of transitif

German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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transitive

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

Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /tran.siˈti.ve/, /tran.ziˈti.ve/
  • Rhymes: -ive
  • Hyphenation: tran‧si‧tì‧ve

Adjective

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transitive f pl

  1. feminine plural of transitivo

Anagrams

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Latin

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Adjective

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trānsitīve

  1. vocative masculine singular of trānsitīvus