[f. L. transit-, ppl. stem of transīre: see prec. Cf. L. transitāre, freq. of transīre (instanced in pr. pple. transitāns Cic.). In earlier use stressed transi·te.]
1. intr. To pass through or over; to pass away.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., xc. 415. The porter is the worlde; and right as by the porter so by the worlde we may transite.
1595. Chapman, Ovid’s Banq. Sence (1639), 11. As Intellects themselves transite to each intelligible qualitie.
1775. ‘Joel Collier’ (Alex. Bicknell), Mus. Trav. (ed. 2), 68. I then transided to the gentleman himself.
1797–1803. Foster in Life & Corr. (1846), I. 173. The comets of the mind; they transit off. Ibid. (1803), 196. I have transited into another person.
1852. N. L. Walker, Life in Spirit, xiii. (1853), 212. One or two transit off from our Divinity Halls annually.
2. trans. To pass across or through (something); to traverse, cross. Also fig.
1674. Jeake, Arith. (1696), 249. I have … transited Decimals and Astronomicals, and shall now apply myself to overlook Logarithmes.
1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 10 March, 3/1. Another line which would transit Germany, Russia,… Afghanistan, and India.
3. Astrol. To pass across (a sign, ‘house,’ or special point, of the zodiac). Also absol. or intr.
1647. Lilly, Chr. Astrol., lxvii. 409. When the unfortunate Anareta transits the degree ascending.
1686. Goad, Celest. Bodies, III. ii. 403. Feavers … do annoy us, when the Heavenly Bodies Transit, or take up Station in such Parts of the Zodiack.
1819. J. Wilson, Dict. Astrol., s.v. Transits, If the lord of the 8th … transit the cusp of the horoscope, it threatens death.
4. Astron. To pass across (the disk of a celestial body, the meridian of a place, or the field of view of a telescope). Also absol. or intr.
In quot. 1656 of the moon, to occult (a star or planet).
1686. Goad, Celest. Bodies, I. xii. 49. The ☽ transiting ♀ that Night raised the Tides.
1755. B. Martin, Mag. Arts & Sc., I. 45. In the Years 1753, 1786, 1799, in the Month of April, he [Mercury] will transit the Sun’s Disk.
1833. Herschel, Astron., viii. 256. Rendering the planet invisible, unless … where it transits the sun’s disc, and appears on it as a black spot.
1870. Proctor, Other Worlds, viii. (ed. 2), 184. The markings seen on the third satellite, when transiting Jupiter’s disc.
1878. Lockyer, Stargazing, 354. The value of the divisions of the micrometer screw having been previously determined by allowing an equatorial star to transit.
