Passage from one place or state to another; charge; as, the transition of the weather from hot to cold. [1913 Webster]
"There is no death, what seems so is transition." [1913 Webster]
A direct or indirect passing from one key to another; a modulation. [1913 Webster]
A passing from one subject to another. [1913 Webster]
"[He] with transition sweet, new speech resumes." [1913 Webster]
Change from one form to another. [1913 Webster]
" This word is sometimes pronounced tran*sish"un; but according to Walker, Smart, and most other authorities, the customary and preferable pronunciation is tran*sizh"un, although this latter mode violates analogy. Other authorities say tran*zish"un." [1913 Webster]

Transition rocks (Geol.), a term formerly applied to the lowest uncrystalline stratified rocks (graywacke) supposed to contain no fossils, and so called because thought to have been formed when the earth was passing from an uninhabitable to a habitable state.

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

transition, n.
1 a passing or change from one place, state, condition, etc., to another (an age of transition; a transition from plain to hills).
2 Mus. a momentary modulation.
3 Art a change from one style to another, esp. Archit. from Norman to Early English.
4 Physics a change in an atomic nucleus or orbital electron with emission or absorption of radiation.

Idiom

transition element Chem. any of a set of elements in the periodic table characterized by partly filled d or f orbitals and the ability to form coloured complexes. transition point Physics the point at which different phases of the same substance can be in equilibrium.

Derivative

transitional adj. transitionally adv. transitionary adj.

Etymology

F transition or L transitio (as TRANSIT)

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THESAURUS

transition

about-face, accommodation, adaptation, adjustment, alchemy, alteration, amelioration, apostasy, assimilation, assumption, becoming, betterment, break, change, change of heart, change-over, changeableness, communication, conduction, constructive change, contagion, continuity, convection, conversion, defection, degeneration, degenerative change, delivery, deportation, deterioration, development, deviation, diapedesis, difference, diffusion, discontinuity, dissemination, divergence, diversification, diversion, diversity, evolution, export, exportation, expulsion, extradition, fitting, flip-flop, gradual change, growth, import, importation, improvement, interchange, lapse, melioration, metamorphosis, metastasis, metathesis, metempsychosis, migration, mitigation, modification, modulation, mutation, mutual transfer, naturalization, osmosis, overthrow, passage, passing over, perfusion, progress, qualification, radical change, re-creation, re-formation, realignment, reconversion, redesign, reduction, reform, reformation, remaking, renewal, reshaping, resolution, restructuring, reversal, revival, revivification, revolution, shift, spread, spreading, sudden change, switch, switch-over, total change, transduction, transfer, transfer of property, transference, transformation, transfusion, transit, translation, translocation, transmigration, transmigration of souls, transmission, transmittal, transmittance, transmutation, transplacement, transplantation, transposal, transposition, travel, turn, turnabout, turning into, upheaval, variation, variety, violent change, volte-face, worsening

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ROGET THESAURUS

transition

Conversion

N conversion, reduction, transmutation, resolution, assimilation, evolution, sea change, change of state, assumption, naturalization, transportation, development, developing, conversion of currency, exchange of currency, exchange rate, bureau de change, chemistry, alchemy, progress, growth, lapse, flux, passage, transit, transition, transmigration, shifting, phase, conjugation, convertibility, crucible, alembic, caldron, retort, convert, pervert, renegade, apostate, converted into, convertible, resolvable into, transitional, naturalized, gradually, &c (slowly) 275 in transitu.

Transference

N transfer, transference, translocation, elocation, displacement, metastasis, metathesis, removal, remotion, amotion, relegation, deportation, asportation, extradition, conveyance, draft, carrying, carriage, convection, conduction, contagion, transfer, transit, transition, passage, ferry, gestation, portage, porterage, carting, cartage, shoveling, vection, vecture, vectitation, shipment, freight, wafture, transmission, transport, transportation, importation, exportation, transumption, transplantation, translation, shifting, dodging, dispersion, transposition, traction, drift, transferred, drifted, movable, portable, portative, mailable, contagious, from hand to hand, from pillar to post, on the way, by the way, on the road, on the wing, under way, in transit, on course, as one goes, in transitu, en route, chemin faisant, en passant, in mid progress, in mid course.

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