Trān'si-tīve1, a.
a. [Lat. transitivus, It., Sp., & Pg., transitivo, Pr. transitiu, Fr. transitif. See supra.]
- Having the power of making a transit or passage. [Rare.] De Quincey.
- Effected by transference of signification.
Although 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, there are certain cases in which they open a very interesting field of philosophical speculation. Dugald Stewart.