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transition - 6 dictionary results

tran⋅si⋅tion

  [tran-zish-uhn, -sish-]
Use transition in a Sentence
–noun
1. movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change: the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
2. Music.
a. a passing from one key to another; modulation.
b. a brief modulation; a modulation used in passing.
c. a sudden, unprepared modulation.
3. a passage from one scene to another by sound effects, music, etc., as in a television program, theatrical production, or the like.
–verb (used without object)
4. to make a transition: He had difficulty transitioning from enlisted man to officer.
Origin:
1545–55; < L trānsitiōn- (s. of trānsitiō) a going across, equiv. to trānsit(us) (ptp. of transīre to cross; cf. transit ) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms:
tran⋅si⋅tion⋅al, tran⋅si⋅tion⋅a⋅ry  [tran-zish-uh-ner-ee, -sish-] , adjective
tran⋅si⋅tion⋅al⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. changeover, passing, conversion.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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tran·si·tion   (trān-zĭsh'ən, -sĭsh'-)   
n.  
  1. Passage from one form, state, style, or place to another.
    1. Passage from one subject to another in discourse.
    2. A word, phrase, sentence, or series of sentences connecting one part of a discourse to another.
    3. A modulation, especially a brief one.
    4. A passage connecting two themes or sections.
  3. Music
    1. A modulation, especially a brief one.
    2. A passage connecting two themes or sections.
  4. Genetics A point mutation in which a pyrimidine is replaced by another pyrimidine, or a purine is replaced by another purine.
  5. Sports The process of changing from defense to offense or offense to defense, as in basketball or hockey.
  6. A period during childbirth that precedes the expulsive phase of labor, characterized by strong uterine contractions and nearly complete cervical dilation.
intr.v.   tran·si·tioned, tran·si·tion·ing, tran·si·tions
  1. To make a transition.
  2. Sports To change from defense to offense or offense to defense.
tran·si'tion·al, tran·si'tion·ar'y (-zĭsh'ə-něr'ē) adj., tran·si'tion·al·ly adv.
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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Transition

Tran*si"tion\, n. [L. transitio: cf. F. transition. See Transient.]

1. Passage from one place or state to another; charge; as, the transition of the weather from hot to cold.

There is no death, what seems so is transition. --Longfellow.

2. (Mus.) A direct or indirect passing from one key to another; a modulation.

3. (Rhet.) A passing from one subject to another.

[He] with transition sweet, new speech resumes. --Milton.

4. (Biol.) Change from one form to another.

Note: 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.

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : transition
Spanish: transición,
German: der Übergang,
Japanese: 移行
More Translations »

transition  (n.)
1551, from L. transitionem (nom. transitio) "a going across or over," noun of action from transire "go or cross over" (see transient).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: tran·si·tion
Pronunciation: tran(t)s-'ish-&n, tranz-, chiefly Brit tran(t)s-'izh-
Function: noun
1 : passagefrom one state or stage to another; especially : an abrupt change in energy state or level (as of an atomic nucleus or a molecule) usually accompanied by loss or gain of a singlequantum of energy
2 : a genetic mutation in RNA or DNA that results from the substitution of one purine base for the other or of one pyrimidine base for the other
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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transition

alteration of a physical system from one state, or condition, to another. In atomic and particle physics, transitions are often described as being allowed or forbidden (see selection rule). Allowed transitions are those that have high probability of occurring, as in the case of short-lived radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. In three-millionths of a second, for instance, half of any sample of unstable polonium-212 becomes stable lead-208 by ejecting alpha particles (helium-4 nuclei) from individual atomic nuclei. Forbidden transitions, on the other hand, are those that have a high probability of not occurring. A strictly forbidden transition is one that cannot occur at all

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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