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Transit

 - 5 dictionary results

tran⋅sit

  [tran-sit, -zit] noun, verb, -sit⋅ed, -sit⋅ing.
Use Transit in a Sentence
–noun
1. the act or fact of passing across or through; passage from one place to another.
2. conveyance or transportation from one place to another, as of persons or goods, esp., local public transportation: city transit. Compare mass transit.
3. a transition or change.
4. Astronomy.
a. the passage of a heavenly body across the meridian of a given location or through the field of a telescope.
b. the passage of Mercury or Venus across the disk of the sun, or of a satellite or its shadow across the face of its primary.
c. meridian circle.
5. Astrology. the passage of a planet in aspect to another planet or a specific point in a horoscope.
6. Surveying.
a. Also called transit instrument. an instrument, as a theodolite, having a telescope that can be transited, used for measuring horizontal and sometimes vertical angles.
b. a repeating transit theodolite.
7. (initial capital letter) U.S. Aerospace. one of a series of satellites for providing positional data to ships and aircraft.
–verb (used with object)
8. to pass across or through.
9. Surveying. to turn (the telescope of a transit) in a vertical plane in order to reverse direction; plunge.
10. Astronomy. to cross (a meridian, celestial body, etc.).
–verb (used without object)
11. to pass over or through something; make a transit.
12. Astronomy. to make a transit across a meridian, celestial body, etc.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME (n. and v.) < L trānsitus a going across, passage, equiv. to trānsi-, var. s. of trānsīre to cross (trāns- trans- + -īre to go) + -tus suffix of v. action
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Transit
tran·sit   (trān'sĭt, -zĭt)   
n.  

  1. The act of passing over, across, or through; passage.

    1. Conveyance of people or goods from one place to another, especially on a local public transportation system.

    2. The system or vehicles used for such conveyance.

    3. The passage of a celestial body across the observer's meridian.

    4. The passage of a smaller celestial body or its shadow across the disk of a larger celestial body.

  3. A transition or change, as to a spiritual existence at death.

  4. Astronomy

    1. The passage of a celestial body across the observer's meridian.

    2. The passage of a smaller celestial body or its shadow across the disk of a larger celestial body.

  5. A surveying instrument similar to a theodolite that measures horizontal and vertical angles.

v.   tran·sit·ed, tran·sit·ing, tran·sits

v.   tr.

  1. To pass over, across, or through: aircraft transiting the United States and Canada.

  2. To revolve (the telescope of a surveying transit) about its horizontal transverse axis in order to reverse its direction.

v.   intr. Astronomy
To make a transit.

[Middle English transite, from Latin trānsitus, from past participle of trānsīre, to go across; see transient.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

transit  (n.)
"act or fact of passing across or through," c.1440, from L. transitus, pp. of transire "go or cross over" (see transient). Meaning "public transporation" is attested from 1873. The verb also is first recorded c.1440.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

TRANSIT language
A subsystem of ICES.
[Sammet 1969, p.616].
(2003-07-12)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Encyclopedia

transit

in astronomy, the passage of a relatively small body across the disk of a larger body, usually the Sun or a planet, occulting only a very small area. Mercury and Venus periodically transit the Sun, and a satellite may transit its planet. Compare eclipse.

Learn more about transit with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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