transitive

UK /ˈtɹænzɪtɪv/ US /ˈtɹænzɪtɪv/
adj 5noun 1

Definitions

adj

1

Making 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.

2

Affected 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.

3

Taking a direct object or objects.

The English verb "to notice" is a transitive verb, because we say things like "She noticed a problem".

Men have tried to turn "revolutionise" from a transitive to an intransitive verb.

4

Having 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.

5

Such that, for any two elements of the acted-upon set, some group element maps the first to the second.

noun

1

A 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).

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