See Also: transition(dictionary)
Transition(medicine)
transition(2)(dictionary)
transition(1)(dictionary)
transition temperature(medicine)
Transition phase(money)
Transition Therapeutics(finance)
Transition phase(finance)
transition element(encyclopedia)
transition state(medicine)

transition(1) (iou)



transition noun. M16.
[Old & mod. French, or directly from Latin transitio(n-), formed as TRANSIT verb: see -ION.]
The action or process of passing or passage from one condition, action, or (occas.) place, to another; change; an instance of this. M16.
transition period, transition process, transition zone, etc.
P. Campbell He made the transition from politics to business. Guardian Transition to a market economy must be carried out in several..stages. attrib.: Nature Binding sites..bind selectively to the transition stage of the substrate.
Passage in thought, speech, or writing from one subject to another; a figure or phrase used in this. M16.
Music.
a. Going from one chord to another by means of a passing note. Only in M17.
b. (A) momentary modulation from one key to another. Also, modulation into a remote key. M18.
Passage from an earlier to a later stage of development or formation; esp. (a) Architecture change from an earlier to a later style; a style having intermediate or mixed character; (b) Philology the historical passage of a language from one well-defined stage to another (as from Old English to Middle English); the interval occupied by this; the intermediate form of the language during this interval. Formerly also (Geology), a series of early stratified rocks now classified as Silurian. Freq. attrib. E19.
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. E20.
Biology. The occurrence in a nucleic acid of one purine in place of another, or of one pyrimidine in place of another. Cf. TRANSVERSION noun1 2. M20.
Comb.: transition curve (Engineering etc.) a curve of constantly changing radius, used to connect a circular arc to a straight line or to an arc of different curvature; transition element Chemistry (a) = transitional element s.v. TRANSITIONAL adjective; (b) any of a large class of metallic elements occupying the central block of the periodic table, characterized by atoms or cations containing partly filled d or f orbitals and commonly exhibiting variable valency and forming coloured complexes; transition fit Engineering a fit between two mating parts such that, within the specified tolerances, there may be either interference or clearance between them; transition metal Chemistry = transition element (b) above; transition probability Physics the probability of a transition between two given states of a system (esp. an atom); transition series Chemistry the series of transition elements; transition temperature Physics the temperature at which a substance acquires or loses some distinctive property, esp. superconductivity.