English
transition
Transition comes from Middle French transition, from Latin trānsitiō ‘passage’, from trāns + itiō ‘a going’, from eō ‘to go’, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁ey-‘to go’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éyti‘to go’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*eō‘to go’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō‘go’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEitiō‘a going’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsitiō‘passage, transition’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600transition‘transition’
- Englishearliest quotation 1918same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁ey-‘to go’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éyti‘to go’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*eō‘to go’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō‘go’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEitiō‘a going’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsitiō‘passage, transition’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600transition‘transition’
- Englishearliest quotation 1918same form
Earliest quotation: 1918, William Babington Maxwell, Indianapolis: “All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill.[…]Never before had…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- ‘to go’
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁éyti ‘to go, to be going’
ion, isthmus, cation, anionic, 19 more
through Proto-Italic *eō ‘to go’
initiative, initiate, initiation, initiator, 4 more
through Latin eō ‘go, proceed’
issue, initial, exit, ambient, ambitious, ambition, obituary, eyre, trance, ambiance, ambit, obit, praetor, 28 more
through Latin itiō ‘a going, walking, travelling’
Today it means
noun The process of change from one form, state, style or place to another.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- / transition