Transitioning

How to spell transitioning

13 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce transitioning

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does transitioning mean?

1. verbMoving or changing gradually from one state, condition, or stage to another.

Transitioning in a sentence

• The company is transitioning from paper records to a fully digital system.

• She found transitioning from full-time work to retirement surprisingly difficult.

Where does transitioning come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin transitio, meaning 'a going across' or 'a passage', which was built from the verb transire, literally 'to go across', combining trans 'across, over' with ire 'to go'. The same ire root quietly powers a whole family of English words about movement, including 'exit' (a going out) and 'ambition' (originally a going around to canvass for votes). English took 'transition' as a noun in the late 1500s, mainly to describe a change or passage from one state, place, or condition to another. The verb use, meaning to move gradually from one situation into another, is much more recent and grew especially common in the twentieth century. Adding -ing gives 'transitioning', the present participle, and the main spelling trap lives in the middle: the single s pronounced like 'sh' before -ion, plus the hidden second i, since people often write 'transitining' or double the consonants by mistake.

How the word is built

• trans- (across, over)
• it (from Latin ire, to go)
• -ion (forming a noun of action)
• -ing (present participle)