transit

[ tran-zit, -sit ]

noun

1. the act or fact of passing across or through; passage from one place to another:

   The area continues to be affected by the transit of illegal drugs bound for major cities.

2. conveyance or transportation of people or goods from one place to another, especially local public transportation: Compare mass transit ( def ).

   Improving city transit is a high priority for the new mayor.

3. a transition or change:

   The transit of autumn to winter saw woodpecker season in full swing and Canada geese on the move.

4. Astronomy.
   1. the passage of a heavenly body across the meridian of a given location or through the field of a telescope:

      The experiments lasted long enough for us to detect the transit of black holes with a mass of up to 10 times that of our sun.

   2. the passage of Mercury or Venus across the disk of the sun, or of a satellite or its shadow across the face of its primary:

      In June 2012, a NASA webcast enabled the public to view the transit of Venus across the solar disk.

   3. meridian circle ( def ).
5. Astrology. the passage of a planet through one of the twelve houses or divisions of the celestial sphere or across the position held by another planet in a person’s birth chart:

   The transit of Mars is happening in the third house for you, so expect a shift in things concerning home and family.

6. Also called transit theodolite, transit instrument. Surveying. a type of theodolite having a telescope that can be flipped vertically to reverse the direction of view: used for measuring horizontal and often vertical angles, sometimes with the ability to take successive measurements of the same angle and average them for greater accuracy.
7. Transit, U.S. Aerospace. one of a series of satellites for providing positional data to ships and aircraft.

verb (used with object)

, tran·sit·ed, tran·sit·ing.

1. to pass across or through:

   Many millions of oil barrels transit the Suez Canal every day.

   It’s fairly easy to intercept emails as they transit the internet.

2. Surveying, Astronomy. to flip (a telescope) vertically in order to reverse the direction of view.
3. Astronomy. to cross (a meridian, celestial body, etc.):

   Mercury transits the sun about 13 or 14 times each century.

verb (used without object)

, tran·sit·ed, tran·sit·ing.

1. to pass over, through, into, or out of something:

   Are you planning on transiting through the United States?

   Attackers can hijack your data as it transits to and from your system.

2. Astronomy. to make a passage across a meridian, celestial body, etc.:

   The probe was looking for planets transiting across the face of stars.

transit

/ ˈtrænsɪt; ˈtrænz- /

noun

1. 1. the passage or conveyance of goods or people
   2. ( as modifier )

      a transit visa

2. a change or transition
3. a route
4. astronomy
   1. the passage of a celestial body or satellite across the face of a relatively larger body as seen from the earth
   2. the apparent passage of a celestial body across the meridian, caused by the earth's diurnal rotation
5. astrology the passage of a planet across some special point on the zodiac
6. in transit
   while being conveyed; during passage

verb

1. to make a transit through or over (something)
2. astronomy to make a transit across (a celestial body or the meridian)
3. to cause (the telescope of a surveying instrument) to turn over or (of such a telescope) to be turned over in a vertical plane so that it points in the opposite direction

transit

/ trăn′sĭt /

1. The passage of a smaller celestial body or its shadow across the disk of a larger celestial body. As observed from Earth, Mercury and Venus are the only planets of the solar system that make transits of the Sun, because they are the only planets with orbits that lie between Earth and the Sun. Mercury makes an average of 13 transits of the Sun each century. Transits of Venus across the Sun are much rarer, with only 7 of them having occurred between 1639 and 2004. In contrast, transits of Jupiter's moons across its disk are common occurrences.
2. Compare occultation
3. The passage of a celestial body across the celestial meridian (the great circle on the celestial sphere passing through the celestial poles and an observer's zenith). For any observer, the object is at its highest in the sky at its transit of the observer's meridian.
4. See more at celestial meridian

Derived Forms

• ˈtransitable, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of transit¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English (noun and verb), from Latin trānsitus “crossing, passage,” noun use of past participle of trānsīre “to go across, pass over,” from trāns- trans- + īre “to go”

Word History and Origins

Origin of transit¹

C15: from Latin transitus a going over, from transīre to pass over; see transient

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in transit. in transit.

Example Sentences

The proposal would enable developers to build more than currently allowed and receive breaks on height and parking if they include a certain percentage of affordable units — and the property is near transit or along a major street near jobs and good schools.

From Los Angeles Times

Backers said it was necessary to help build low-income housing, expand roads and transit, renovate parks and construct other public infrastructure.

From Los Angeles Times

I have a theory: Downtown L.A. ranks near the top of a lot of walkability rankings because it’s just expected that a dense urban core that serves as a major transit hub would, by default, be a great place for people to live their best car-free lives.

From Los Angeles Times

The public transit system has had a serious makeover and is getting even more upgrades to cover more areas in the future.

From Los Angeles Times

The new threshold would apply to local measures impacting low-income housing, road and transit expansions, parks and wildfire resilience.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• passage
• shipment
• transport
• travel