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transition

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

10 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "transition", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "transition" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "transition" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

transition is aEnglishnoun. It means: The process of change from one form, state, style or place to another. Pronounced /tɹænˈzɪ.ʃən/. It ranks #3,268 in English word frequency. Often confused with transitive and translation.

Key facts for transition
PropertyValue
Headwordtransition
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɹænˈzɪ.ʃən/
Letters10
Frequency rank#3,268
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of transition in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for transition is 10 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /tɹænˈzɪ.ʃən/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,268 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 16 documented wrong-spelling variants for transition, with forms such as "rtansition", "tarnsition", and "tranistion". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "transitive", "translation", "transitional", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Middle French transitionbor. English transition From Middle French transition, from Latin transitio. By surface analysis, transit + -ion. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is transition, spelled T-R-A-N-S-I-T-I-O-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The process of change from one form, state, style or place to another.
  2. 2
    A word or phrase connecting one part of a discourse to another.
  3. 3
    A brief modulation; a passage connecting two themes.
  4. 4
    A change of key.
  5. 5
    A point mutation in which one base is replaced by another of the same class (purine or pyrimidine); compare transversion.
  6. 6
    A change from defense to attack, or attack to defense.
  7. 7
    The onset of the final stage of childbirth.
  8. 8
    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. 9
    A change between forward and backward motion without stopping.
  10. 10
    The process or act of changing one's gender role or physical and sexual characteristics, by social, medical, or legal methods, to conform to their identified gender, rather than the sex assigned at birth.
  11. 11
    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. 12
    Death; passing from life into death.

Etymology

Etymology tree Middle French transitionbor. English transition From Middle French transition, from Latin transitio. By surface analysis, transit + -ion.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: rtansition,tarnsition,tranistion,trannsition,transiiton,transision,transitino,transitionn,transitoin,transittion,transsition,transtiion,trasnition,trnasition,trransition,ttransition

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for transition

Misspelling Variants of "transition"

rtansition10tarnsition10tranistion10trannsition11transiiton10transision10transitino10transitionn11
Misspelling Variants of "transition"

Frequency rank: #3,268 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "transition"?
"transition" is spelled T-R-A-N-S-I-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /tɹænˈzɪ.ʃən/.
What does "transition" mean?
As a noun, "transition" means: The process of change from one form, state, style or place to another.
What words are commonly confused with "transition"?
"transition" is commonly confused with "transitive", "translation", "transitional". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "transition"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "transition" is /tɹænˈzɪ.ʃən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "transition"?
Etymology tree Middle French transitionbor. English transition From Middle French transition, from Latin transitio. By surface analysis, transit + -ion. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter T in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.