[tran.si.tive] adj [LL transitivus, fr. L transitus, pp. of transire] (1590) 1: characterized by having or containing a direct object "a ~ verb" "a ~ construction"
2: being or relating to a relation with the property that if the relation holds between a first element and a second and between the second element and a third, it holds between the first and third elements "equality is a ~ relation"
3: of, relating to, or characterized by transition -- tran.si.tive.ly adv -- tran.si.tive.ness n -- tran.si.tiv.i.ty n