Etymograph

English

transitive

Transitive comes from Latin trānsitīvus ‘transiting’, from trānsitus ‘passage, crossing’, and ultimately from eō ‘to go’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō1‘to go’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrāns1‘across’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsitus1‘passage, crossing’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsitīvus1‘transiting’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1841-1843transitive1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English transitive
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1841-1843, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “For all symbols are fluxional; all language is vehicular…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeōWiktionary, English transitive‘to go’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsWiktionary, English transitive‘across’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsitusWiktionary, English transitive‘passage, crossing’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsitīvusWiktionary, English transitive‘transiting’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1841-1843transitiveWiktionary, English transitive. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1841-1843, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “For all symbols are fluxional; all language is vehicular…”

Linked words

through Latin eō ‘to go’

issue, initial, exit, ambitious, ambient, ambition, obituary, eyre, trance, sedition, ambiance, seditious, ambit, obit, praetor, 27 more

through Latin trāns ‘across’

transparent, transpire, transpiration, 5 more

Today it means

adj Making a transit or passage.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “transitive”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin eō / transitive

Shirt and support for this word