Definition of "transition"

transition

/tɹænˈsɪʒən/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural transitions
1. The process of change from one form, state, style or place to another.
  Quotations
  All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. […] Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place.
  1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company
  In a period of transition from steam to diesel, many of the schemes are inevitably of an interim nature and only on full dieselisation will the final pattern be determined and full benefit derived.
  1960 June, “Diesel locomotive operation on the Great Eastern Line”, in Trains Illustrated, page 374
  So, depending on how he chooses to govern over the next four years, Mr. Obama may yet have a chance to reset the stale debate in Washington, or at least to hasten the transition from one moment to the next. His re-election opens the door further for the post-’60s generation, even if it does not quite clear the room.
  2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎
2. A word or phrase connecting one part of a discourse to another.
3. (music) A brief modulation; a passage connecting two themes.
4. (music) A change of key.
5. (genetics) A point mutation in which one base is replaced by another of the same class (purine or pyrimidine); compare transversion.
6. (some sports) A change from defense to attack, or attack to defense.
7. (medicine) The onset of the final stage of childbirth.
8. (education) Professional special education assistance for children or adults in the process of leaving one educational environment or support program for another to relatively more independent living.
9. (skating) A change between forward and backward motion without stopping.
10. (LGBT) The process or act of changing from one gender role to another, or of bringing one's outward appearance in line with one's internal gender identity.
  Quotations
  The LED lights up her face as she watches the YouTube video of a goth girl in New Orleans again. Nobody could tell to look at her. She has a year-long film of her transition and at the end of it she has black lips and long hair and she is hot.
  2016, Jenni Fagan, The Sunlight Pilgrims, William Heinemann, page 29
11. (aviation) A published procedure for instrument flight, coming between the departure and en-route phases of flight, or between en-route flight and an approach/landing procedure.
12. (euphemistic) Death; passing from life into death.
  Quotations
  As I read for the first time the inscription on my ancestor's tombstone, I recognized her name, but it was the date that transfixed my gaze and made my hair stand on end. The date of her death was March 1st, a fact I had been unaware of, but I did know that this day happened also to be March 1st; it was the thirty-second anniversary of her transition.
  2011, Wendy Taylor, Shaman in Disguise, John Hunt Publishing, page 82
  This was my first Christmas without Gemmia and the one-year anniversary of her transition. […] We had a lovely time, but it was very clear that we would rather have been home doing what we would have done had Gemmia been alive.
  2012, Iyanla Vanzant, Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You're Going Through, Smiley Books, page 289
verb
third-person singular simple present transitions, present participle transitioning, simple past and past participle transitioned
1. (intransitive) To make a transition.
2. (transitive) To bring through a transition; to change.
3. (intransitive, LGBT) To change from one gender role to another, or bring one's outward appearance in line with one's internal gender identity.
  Quotations
  Eric told me that after he transitioned, he wanted to learn to fish and all the things his father never taught him.
  2006, Taylor J. Holder, All Points in Between: Shifting on the Scale of Sex and Gender
  And simply being accepted into one of these programs was not a guarantee that one would be allowed to transition. First, the trans person had to undergo extensive, sometimes indefinite, periods of psychotherapy […]
  2009, Julia Serano, Whipping Girl
  If the transitioning person leaves the family home, there will be moving costs, and costs associated with the acquisition of another home or the renting of an apartment. If the non-transitioning spouse leaves the family home, […]
  2009, Mara Drummond, Transitions - A Guide To Transitioning For Transsexuals And Their Families, page 71
  After he transitioned, he changed jobs so he could go stealth, hoping that no one would discover he was once a woman.
  2012, Kevin Alderson, Counseling LGBTI Clients, page 195