Transitional

How to spell transitional

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce transitional

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does transitional mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to or marking a process or period of change from one state, stage, or condition to another.

Transitional in a sentence

• The company set up a transitional team to manage the merger.

• New graduates often take a transitional job before settling into a career.

Where does transitional come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb transire, meaning 'to go across' or 'to pass over', which was formed from the prefix trans- ('across') and the verb ire ('to go'). From transire came the noun transitio, describing a passage or crossing from one place or state to another. English took the noun 'transition' through French in the 1500s, and the adjective 'transitional' was built later by adding the familiar -al ending, recording the idea of something that belongs to a stage of change. The same ire root that means 'to go' also lurks in everyday words like 'exit' (literally 'goes out') and 'ambition', so the hidden -it- spelling is really the old verb for going. Remembering that the middle holds 'transition' plus -al keeps writers from dropping a letter or doubling one.

How the word is built

• trans- (across)
• it (go, from Latin ire 'to go')
• -ion (noun-forming)
• -al (adjective-forming)