▪ I. transition
(trɑːnˈsɪʒən, træn-, -ˈsɪʃən, -ˈzɪʃən)
[ad. L. transitiōn-em, n. of action f. transīre, transit- (see transit v.). Cf. F. transition (13–14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).
(The first and prevailing pronunciation, contrary to the general analogy of words in -tion, is app. due (as suggested by Walker) to a desire to avoid the collocation of the two similar (voiceless) sibilants (s) and (ʃ).)]
1. a. A passing or passage from one condition, action, or (rarely) place, to another; change.
| 1551 Gardiner Explication, Of Transubstantiation 123 In the mysterie of Christes person, there is no transition of the deitie into the humanite, or humanite into the deitie. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. vi. (1626) 109 The vast sky painted with a mightie Bowe: Where, though a thousand seuerall colours shine, No eye their close transition can define. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 172 ¶7 A quick transition from poverty to abundance can seldom be made with safety. 1851 Hawthorne Ho. Sev. Gables xvii, Transition being so facile, what can be any man's inducement to tarry in one spot? 1862 Sir H. Holland Ess. i. 1 We are living in an age of transition. 1899 Stalker Christology of Jesus v. 186 Death was..only a stage of transition to a higher form of life. |
b. Physics. A change of an atomic nucleus or an orbital electron from one quantized state to another, with the emission or absorption of radiation of a characteristic wavelength.
| 1913 Phil. Mag. XXVI. 18 We consequently observe an absorption of radiation which is not accompanied by a complete transition between two different stationary states. 1922 tr. Bohr's Theory of Spectra iii. iv. 118 Emission lines of the X-ray spectra due to transitions between the stationary states corresponding to these energy levels. 1930 Science 10 Oct. 376/2 Very little is known about nuclear properties of atoms because of the difficulties inherent in excitation of nuclear transitions in the laboratory. 1962 [see level n. 3 e]. 1977 Whitaker's Almanack 1978 1035/2 By varying the frequency, a detailed analysis of a particular x-ray transition was made. |
2. Passage in thought, speech, or writing from one subject to another.
| 1592 tr. Junius on Rev. vii. 1 This first verse is a transition. 1674 Milton P.L. (ed. 2) xii. 5 Heer the Archangel paus'd..Then with transition sweet new Speech resumes. 1724 Watts Logic iv. ii. vii. §3 Acquaint yourself with all the proper..forms of transition from one part of a discourse to another. 1798 Edgeworth Pract. Educ. (1811) I. 115 The transition of attention from one subject to another. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 15 The Timaeus..one of his [Plato's] most finished works, is full of abrupt transitions. |
3. Mus. † a. The passing from one note to another by means of a passing-note (
obs.).
b. The passing from one key to another, modulation;
spec. a passing or brief modulation; also, modulation into a remote key.
| 1667 C. Simpson Compend. Mus. 88 A Note is somtimes broken to make a Transition by degrees to some other Concord. These Transitions or Breakings are commonly express'd in Quavers or Crochets. 1877 Stainer Harmony xii. §150 A transition is the rapid passing through any key, without remaining sufficiently long in it to establish a modulation. 1889 Prout Harmony x. (ed. 3) 101 Some writers use the term ‘Transition’, when the modulation is to a remote or unrelated key. |
4. The passage from an earlier to a later stage of development or formation.
a. Geol. Formerly
spec. applied
attrib. to certain early stratified rocks believed to contain the oldest remains of living organisms; now classified as Silurian: see
quot. 1813.
| 1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 9 The lowest of the secondary rocks have..been called by the German geologists transition rocks, from the supposition that they were formed when the world was passing from an uninhabitable to a habitable state. 1815 W. Phillips Outl. Min. & Geol. (1818) 116 To primitive rocks succeeds another class, which Werner denominates Transition rocks. 1823 Buckland Reliq. Diluv. 117 It lies in a bed of transition limestone. 1834–5 J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. VI. 593/2 On the East side of the transition ranges of the Wrekin and Wenlock Edge lies the coalfield of Coalbrook Dale. 1839 Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xxxiv. 452 It also presents certain beds of transition between the limestone and the Old Red Sandstone. 1855 J. Phillips Man. Geol. 104 The two parts connected by a transition band (upper caradoc). 1885 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. vi. ii. ii. §1. 658 Murchison was the first to discover that the so-called ‘Transition Rocks’ or ‘Grauwacke’ of early geological literature were capable of subdivision into distinct formations..he gave them the name of Silurian. |
b. Arch. Change from an earlier style to a later; a style of intermediate or mixed character.
| 1835 R. Willis Archit. Mid. Ages i. 9 These may be called Imitation Specimens, to distinguish them from regular Transitions. 1842–76 Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Transition, a term used to denote the passing from one period of a style to another, exhibiting features peculiar to both, some of which have not quite been given up, and some of which were beginning to be introduced. 1874 Parker Goth. Archit. i. iii. 39 The remainder of the eleventh century may be considered as a period of transition. |
c. Philol. The historical passage of language from one well-defined stage to another;
e.g. from Old English or Anglo-Saxon to Middle English; or from Middle English to Modern English; hence applied to the interval occupied by this, and to the intermediate or transitional stage or form of the language during this interval.
| 1873–4 Sweet Hist. Eng. Sounds 160 We have..two periods of transition, one in which nama and name exist side by side, and another in which final e is beginning to drop... The former, commonly called Semi-Saxon.., is characterized by many far-reaching changes. I propose..to call the first the Transition period par excellence, distinguishing the two, when necessary, as first and second Transition, the more important one being generally called simply Transition or Transition-English. Ibid. 38 In the Transition period..we are confronted by [a] curious and apparently inexplicable phenomenon. 1878 Murray Eng. Lang. in Encycl. Brit. VIII. 391/2 Transition Old English, or ‘Semi-Saxon’ 1120 to 1200... Transition Middle English 1400 to 1485... Many writers carry the Transition Old English down to 1250. Ibid. 397/2 The change of the language during the second period of Transition. Ibid. 402 Chronological Chart [has] Old English Transition 1123–1200. Middle English Transition, 1400–1485. |
5. Molecular Biol. The occurrence in a nucleic acid of one purine in place of another, or of one pyramidine in place of another.
Cf. transversion1 3.
| 1959 E. Freese in Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. XLV. 630 Each base analogue can induce the transitions..in both directions (from A–T into G–H and vice versa). 1981 Pai & Marcus-Roberts Genetics xv. 477 Substitutions of bases are further classified as transitions or transversions. |
6. a. attrib., as
transition area,
transition belt,
transition form,
transition period,
transition point,
transition region,
transition species,
transition stage,
transition state,
transition zone, etc.: see also 4 a and c. Often equivalent to
transitional.
| 1805–17 R. Jameson Char. Min. (ed. 3) 126 All the crystals that lie between two principal crystals, and form the transition of one into the other, constitute what is called a transition-suite. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1828) III. xxix. 161 Groups..connected by certain transition species. 1831 Carlyle in Fraser's Mag. Mar. 144/2 Don Karlos, a work of what may be called his transition-period, the turning-point between his earlier and his later period. 1841 J. S. Buckingham America I. 461 Baltimore..appears from the very first to have been peopled by a race that never had this transition-state to pass through. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvii. 343 The most obstinate form [of the disease] generally selects such transition spots or intermediate tissues. 1853 J. Smith Treat. Mus. 33 Transition or passing notes. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. I. ii. 86 Wolsey..holding a middle place between an English statesman and a catholic of the old order, was essentially a transition minister. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. vii. 188 A very good example of this interesting transition work. 1884 J. Tait Mind in Matter (1892) 50 The transition-stages set forth by revolutionists. 1907 E. A. Mearns Mammals Mexican Boundary 135 This station lies in the Transition Zone, the highest peaks extending well into the Canadian or lowest section of the Boreal Zone. 1940 Chambers's Tech. Dict. 860/1 Transition region, the portion of the axis of a young plant in which the change from root structure to shoot structure occurs. 1950 Texas Studies in Eng. XXIX. 254 The transition area (where both [s] and [z] are used), is relatively narrow to the west of Philadelphia. 1957 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxvii. 5 The net effect being to create a transition belt. 1969 J. J. Sparkes Transistor Switching i. 15 This results in a narrowing of the collector transition region and a widening of the base region. 1972 H. Kurath Studies in Area Linguistics iii. 44 The transition area between the North and the Midland reflects partly the complicated history of the settlement. 1977 Nature 14 Apr. 662/1 It is becoming increasingly apparent that FMO interactions are even more important in transition states than they seem to be on inspection of isolated reactant orbitals. 1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 11/3 Based on its density distribution, the mantle has been divided into three parts: the upper mantle, which extends to a depth of 400km..; the transition zone, which extends from 400 to about 700km..; and the lower mantle. 1978 D. Joy Railways in Lancashire 81/1 This view shows the transition period with the new station completed but the old one not yet demolished. 1982 Amer. Speech LVII. 293 A discussion of isoglosses and transition belts..underpins Chambers and Trudgill's theory of urban dialects. |
b. Special
Combs.:
transition element Chem.,
† (
a) any of the nine metallic elements forming group VIII of the periodic table (see
quot. 1922);
cf. transitional element s.v. transitional a. c; (
b) any of a large class of metallic elements making up groups IIIa–VIIa, VIII, and Ib of the periodic table (groups 3–11 in the new notation), which are characterized by partly filled
d orbitals and commonly exhibit variable valency and an ability to form coloured complexes; also extended to include elements having partly filled
f orbitals (see
quots. 1962);
transition fit Engin., a fit between two mating parts such that, within the specified tolerances, there may be either interference or clearance between them;
transition flow (see
quot. 1969);
transition metal Chem. = transition element (b) above;
transition probability Physics, the probability of a transition between two given states of a system,
spec. an atom;
transition temperature Physics, the temperature at which a substance acquires or loses some distinctive property,
esp. superconductivity.
| 1922 E. J. Holmyard Inorganic Chem. xxx. 530 (heading) The ‘transition elements’.—Iron, cobalt, nickel; ruthenium, rhodium, palladium; osmium, iridium, platinum. 1953 de Barry Barnett & Wilson Inorganic Chem. i. 6 Transition Elements. This term was originally used by Mendeleef for the three triads of elements forming Group VIII of his periodic table.., but this meaning of the term has long since been abandoned. 1962 Cotton & Wilkinson Adv. Inorganic Chem. xxiv. 493 The transition elements may be strictly defined as those which, as elements, have partly filled d or f shells. Here we shall adopt a slightly broader definition and include also elements which have partly filled d or f shells in any of their commonly occurring oxidation states. Ibid. 494 The large number of transition elements is subdivided into three main groups: (a) the main transition elements or d-block elements, (b) the lanthanide elements, and (c) the actinide elements. 1965 Phillips & Williams Inorganic Chem. I. ii. 52 The valences of the transition and lanthanide elements. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XVIII. 600/2 The so-called transition elements constitute a group of 56 (the majority of the 105 known elements). |
| 1919 Transition fit [see interference fit s.v. interference 6]. 1971 B. Scharf Engin. & its Lang. xi. 111 Transition fits are so designed that either clearance or interference may occur when the mating parts are assembled. Push fits may be tolerance fits. |
| 1969 Gloss. Aeronaut & Astronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) iv. 11 Transition flow, the flow of gases under conditions intermediate between laminar viscous flow and molecular flow. |
| 1942 Ann. Reg. 1941 356 Potter..investigated the resistivity..of pure samples of the transition metals. 1970 New Scientist 3 Sept. 457/2 The chemistry of the transition metals..is dominated by their complex compounds. |
| 1926 E. Condon in Physical Rev. XXVIII. 1185 The theory of transition probability which will now be developed is an outgrowth of a picture proposed by Franck. 1942, etc. [see Markov]. 1978 Pasachoff & Kutner University Astron. xxiv. 598 Even though this transition probability is so very low, there are so many hydrogen atoms in space that enough 21-cm radiation is given off to be detected. |
| 1930 Sci. Abstr. XXXIII. 697 In all these cases, at temperatures below the transition temperature, increasing the intensity of the magnetic field to a certain value..causes the super⁓conductivity to disappear. 1966 C. R. Tottle Sci. Engin. Materials vi. 127 For the compound Nb4Sn the transition temperature is as high as 18·2°K. 1982 Sci. Amer. May 30/1 Ferroelectric and ferromagnetic transition temperatures. |
▪ II. tranˈsition, v. orig. U.S. Aeronaut. [f. transition n.] a. intr. To make or undergo a transition (from one state, system, etc.
to or
into another); to change over or switch.
| 1975 Aviation Week & Space Technol. 6 Jan. 43/3 Transitioning to the advanced displays from the basic dial indicators found in standard aircraft sometimes causes minor confusion. 1982 Ibid. 6 Dec. 107/2 The pilot transitions sideways to clear the crane overhead before beginning a normal transition to forward flight. 1986 in Simply Stated (Document Design Centre) Jan. 3/2 Harbour Village will transition into a small, self-contained, unique community. 1986 New Yorker 19 May 28/2 There can be something almost quaint, in our meeting here like this talking about Texas in transition, when the overriding question..is whether there will be anything to transition to. 1989 Air Internat. Feb. 91/2 Slot man, in the No 4 ship, is Donnie Cochran, a former F-14 pilot and veteran Blue Angel who flew left wing in the last A-4 season before transitioning to the Hornet in 1987. |
b. trans. To cause to undergo transition; to bring from one state to another, to convert.
Occas. refl.| 1975 Aviation Week & Space Technol. 27 Jan. 32 The 720B flight crews are being transitioned onto the aircraft by IAI in training conducted in Miami. 1980 Washington Post 28 Nov. c1/1 Macmillan, the former British prime minister, has transitioned himself from a somewhat nervous childhood..into an old age of supremely confident ease. 1985 Pittsburgh Business Times & Jrnl. 7 Jan. 1/1 We knew they were having a heck of a problem..transitioning the technology from state of the art into state of practice. 1990 Seattle Times 19 Oct. e1/2 Richard Cohen stood in the eerie glow of an overhead projector that splashed his orderly outline for ‘transitioning’ gay men and lesbians into heterosexuals across a wide swath of the wall behind him. |
Hence
tranˈsitioning ppl. a. and
vbl. n.| 1976 Aviation Week & Space Technol. 4 Oct. 60/1 (caption) Enclosures covering the window panels of this Boeing 707 flight simulator house computer-driven color television displays and associated optics that provide transitioning pilots with realistic visual impressions of the world outside the airplane. 1978 Ibid. 6 Feb. 228/1 The 550th, formerly an F-4 training squadron, has been dedicated to the Ready Holloman program for the final phase of F-15 transitioning. 1990 Seattle Times 19 Oct. e1 (headline) Gays hostile to proponent of ‘transitioning’. |