English Edit

 
Set theory: An example of a transitivity relation.

Etymology Edit

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

Pronunciation Edit

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

Adjective Edit

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.

Derived terms Edit

Translations Edit

See also Edit

Noun Edit

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 Edit

Anagrams Edit

French Edit

Pronunciation Edit

Adjective Edit

transitive

  1. feminine singular of transitif

German Edit

Pronunciation Edit

Adjective Edit

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 Edit

Pronunciation Edit

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

Adjective Edit

transitive f pl

  1. feminine plural of transitivo

Anagrams Edit

Latin Edit

Adjective Edit

trānsitīve

  1. vocative masculine singular of trānsitīvus