transition

Pluraltransitions

Formstransitions, transitioning, transitioned

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The process by which someone or something passes from one state, form, style, or place into another.

   The country's transition to democracy took nearly a decade.

   Employees were given training to ease the transition between the old and new systems.

   Similarchange, shift, changeover, switch, move

   Note

   The broad sense that the specialist ones narrow down. It comes from Middle French, from Latin transitio, and in English it can be read as transit plus -ion. Its natural partners are from and to, as in a transition from steam to diesel or from one moment to the next. A 'period of transition' names an interim state, one whose final pattern is not yet settled.

2. 2
   verbintransitive

   To pass or change from one form, state, or stage to another.

   Many regions are transitioning toward renewable energy.

   Students transition more easily when teachers prepare them ahead of time.

   Similarshift, move, change, switch, evolve

3. 3
   nouncountable

   The process of changing one's gender role or physical and sexual characteristics, through social, medical, or legal means, to match one's identified gender rather than the sex assigned at birth.

   Many people describe their transition as a gradual process spanning several years.

   Legal recognition often lags behind the social and medical parts of someone's transition.

   Note

   In trans communities and writing about them, the word needs no qualifier: her transition, their own transition. Where context could mislead, the fuller gender transition makes it explicit. It covers social steps such as a new name, pronouns and presentation, as well as medical and legal ones. Shon Faye notes that trans young people usually mean the social part, and Laverne Cox warns against reducing it to surgery.

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To bring someone or something through a change from one state, form, or stage to another.

   The board plans to transition the company toward sustainable energy.

   Engineers carefully transitioned the plant from coal to natural gas.

   Similarshift, move, convert, switch, migrate

   Note

   The causative partner of the intransitive verb: here someone transitions something else, whether a company, a plant, or a person moved into a new role. It turns up readily in the passive, as in 'was transitioned from a combat role to a strategic role,' where the person changed is not the one doing the changing.

5. 5
   verbintransitive

   To bring one's gender role or physical and sexual characteristics into line with one's gender identity.

   Some people choose to transition socially before pursuing any medical steps.

   He transitioned over the course of several years.

   Note

   The verb behind gender transition, used without an object: a person transitions, rather than being transitioned. 'After he transitioned' is a typical frame. The present participle works as an adjective too, as in Mara Drummond's 'the transitioning person' and 'the non-transitioning spouse,' which lets writers distinguish the person transitioning from the people around them.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A word or phrase that provides a link between parts of a piece of writing or speech.

   The essay lacked a clear transition between its argument and its conclusion.

   Skilled writers use transitions to keep their paragraphs connected.

   Similarsegue, link, bridge, connective

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A change from one key to another within a piece of music.

   The composer marked a transition into the relative major halfway through the movement.

   An unexpected transition to a distant key gave the piece a sense of tension.

   Similarmodulation

   Note

   Here the word names the harmonic event itself, the move out of one key and into another, and it overlaps closely with modulation. The connecting passage is a span of bars. This meaning is a shift of tonal center, so it pairs with destinations: a transition to the relative major, a transition into a distant key.

8. 8
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A change from defending to attacking, or from attacking to defending, during play.

   The coach drilled the players on transition, turning defense into offense within seconds.

   A sloppy transition let the opponents counterattack and score.

   Note

   Coaches use it as a mass noun as readily as a count noun: teams drill transition, and they play well or badly in transition. Both directions count, the turn from defense to attack and the scramble back. The moment matters because a team caught between roles is most open to a counterattack.

9. 9
   nouncountable

   A brief modulation, or a passage that connects one musical theme to another.

   A brief transition carries the music from the first theme to the second.

   The orchestra glided through the transition without a pause.

   Similarbridge, link, segue

   Note

   In musical analysis, the word names a passage with a job to do: it carries the listener from one theme to the next, often by modulating briefly along the way. Unlike the plain change of key, it is a stretch of music rather than a harmonic event. A transition may modulate, but not every modulation is a transition.

10. 10
    noununcountable

    Professional special-education support for children or adults moving from one educational setting or support program toward more independent living.

    The district funds transition for students moving from high school toward supported employment.

    A good transition plan helps young adults adjust to living more independently.

    Note

    A term of special-education practice, where it names a service rather than an event: a district funds transition, and a student has a transition plan. The direction is built in. It does not cover just any move between schools, only support aimed at more independent living.

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