Meanings
- not comparableMaking a transit or passage.
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.
1841-1843, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Poet - not comparableAffected by transference of signification.
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.
1843, John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive - not comparablegrammarTaking a direct object or objects.
The English verb "to notice" is a transitive verb, because we say things like "She noticed a problem".
1 more example
Men have tried to turn "revolutionise" from a transitive to an intransitive verb.
1908, G. K. Chesterton, OrthodoxyAntonyms: intransitive
- not comparablemathematicsHaving the property that if an element a is related to b and b is related to c, then a is necessarily related to c.
"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.
Antonyms: intransitive, nontransitive
- not comparablegraph theorySuch that, for any two vertices there exists an automorphism which maps one to the other.
- not comparablemathematicsOf a set of dice: not having the intransitive property.
plural transitives
- grammarA transitive verb.
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).
2011, Carmen Dobrovie-Sorin, The Syntax of Romanian: Comparative Studies in Romance, page 136
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveTaking a direct object or objects.
adjectiveHaving the property that if an element a is related to b and b is related to c, then a is necessarily related to c.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivedesignating a verb that requires a direct object to complete the meaning
nouna verb (or verb construction) that requires an object in order to be grammatical
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latintrānsitīvus
- Englishtransitive
From Latin trānsitīvus, from trānsitus, from trāns (“across”) + itus, from eō (“to go”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek μεταβατικός, ἀλλοπαθής
- μεταβατικός (metabatikós)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- ἀλλοπαθής (allopathḗs)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- διαβιβαστικός (diabibastikós)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Arabic مُتَعَدٍّ
- مُتَعَدٍّ (mutaʕaddin)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Bulgarian преходен, прехо́ден
- преходен (prehoden)making a transit or passage
- прехо́ден (prehóden)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Catalan transitiu, transitiu
- transitiumaking a transit or passage
- transitiugrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Chinese Mandarin 及物, 传递性
- 及物 (jíwù)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- 传递性 (chuándìxìng)set theory, of a relation on a set
Czech přechodný, tranzitivní
- přechodnýgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- tranzitivníset theory, of a relation on a set
Danish transitiv
- transitivgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Dutch overdrachtelijk, overgankelijk
- overdrachtelijkaffected by transference of signification
- overgankelijkgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- transitiefgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Esperanto transitiva, transitiva
- transitivagrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- transitivaset theory, of a relation on a set
- transitivaof a graph
Finnish siirtyvä, kulkeva
- siirtyvämaking a transit or passage
- kulkevamaking a transit or passage
- muuttuvaaffected by transference of signification
- transitiivinengrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- transitiivinenof a group action
- transitiivinenset theory, of a relation on a set
- transitiivinenof a graph
French transitif, transitif
- transitifgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- transitifof a group action
- transitifset theory, of a relation on a set
- transitifof a graph
German transitiv, transitiv
- transitivgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- transitivset theory, of a relation on a set
Greek μεταβατικός
- μεταβατικός (metavatikós)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Hebrew יוֹצֵא, טרנזיטיבי
- יוֹצֵא (yotsé)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- טרנזיטיביof a graph
Hindi सकर्मक
- सकर्मक (sakarmak)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Hungarian tárgyas
- tárgyasgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Icelandic gegnvirkur
- gegnvirkurset theory, of a relation on a set
Irish aistreach
- aistreachgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Italian transitivo
- transitivogrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Japanese 他動, 推移的
- 他動 (tadō)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- 推移的 (suiiteki)set theory, of a relation on a set
Korean 타동
- 타동 (tadong)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Norwegian transitiv
- transitivgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Polish przechodni, zmieniający się
- przechodnimaking a transit or passage
- zmieniający sięaffected by transference of signification
- przechodnigrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- tranzytywnygrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- tranzytywnyof a group action
- przechodniset theory, of a relation on a set
- tranzytywnyset theory, of a relation on a set
- tranzytywnyof a graph
Portuguese transitivo, transitório
- transitivomaking a transit or passage
- transitóriomaking a transit or passage
- transitivogrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- transitivoof a group action
- transitivoset theory, of a relation on a set
Romanian tranzitiv, tranzitiv
- tranzitivmaking a transit or passage
- tranzitivgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- tranzitivset theory, of a relation on a set
Russian перехо́дный, перехо́дный
- перехо́дный (perexódnyj)making a transit or passage
- перехо́дный (perexódnyj)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- перехо́дный (perexódnyj)set theory, of a relation on a set
Scottish Gaelic aisigeach, aistreach
- aisigeachgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- aistreachgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- asdolachgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Slovak prechodný
- prechodnýgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Spanish transitivo, transitivo
- transitivomaking a transit or passage
- transitivogrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- transitivoof a group action
- transitivoset theory, of a relation on a set
- transitivoof a graph
Swedish transitiv, transitiv
- transitivgrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- transitivset theory, of a relation on a set
Tagalog palipat
- palipatset theory, of a relation on a set
Turkish geçişli
- geçişligrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Ukrainian перехідни́й, о́бразний
- перехідни́й (perexidnýj)making a transit or passage
- о́бразний (óbraznyj)affected by transference of signification
- перехідни́й (perexidnýj)grammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- перехідни́й (perexidnýj)set theory, of a relation on a set
Vietnamese ngoại
- ngoạigrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
Welsh anghyflawn, trosaidd
- anghyflawngrammar, of a verb: taking an object or objects
- trosaiddset theory, of a relation on a set
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
transitive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/transitive
“transitive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/transitive. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “transitive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/transitive.
Source: transitive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.