Tran"si*tive (?), a. [L. transitivus:
cf. F. transitif. See Transient.] 1.
Having the power of making a transit, or passage. [R.]
Bacon.
2. Effected by transference of
signification.
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.
Stewart.
3. (Gram.) Passing over to an object;
expressing an action which is not limited to the agent or subject, but
which requires an object to complete the sense; as, a transitive
verb, for example, he holds the book.
-- Tran"si*tive*ly, adv. --
Tran"si*tive*ness, n.