TRANSIT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Transit

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/trˈænzɪt/ Listen

noun

Transit n.

1.

The act of passing; passage through or over. "In France you are now... in the transit from one form of government to another."

2.

The act or process of causing to pass; conveyance; as, the transit of goods through a country.

3.

A line or route of passage or conveyance; as, the Nicaragua transit.

4.

(Astron.)

(a)

The passage of a heavenly body over the meridian of a place, or through the field of a telescope.

(b)

The passage of a smaller body across the disk of a larger, as of Venus across the sun's disk, or of a satellite or its shadow across the disk of its primary.

5.

An instrument resembling a theodolite, used by surveyors and engineers; called also transit compass, and surveyor's transit. Note: The surveyor's transit differs from the theodolite in having the horizontal axis attached directly to the telescope which is not mounted in Y's and can be turned completely over about the axis.

Lower transit (Astron.), the passage of a heavenly body across that part of the meridian which is below the polar axis.

Surveyor's transit. See Transit, 5, above.

Transit circle (Astron.), a transit instrument with a graduated circle attached, used for observing the time of transit and the declination at one observation. See Circle, n., 3.

Transit compass. See Transit, 5, above.

Transit duty, a duty paid on goods that pass through a country.

Transit instrument. (Astron.)

(a)

A telescope mounted at right angles to a horizontal axis, on which it revolves with its line of collimation in the plane of the meridian, used in connection with a clock for observing the time of transit of a heavenly body over the meridian of a place.

(b)

(Surv.) A surveyor's transit. See Transit, 5, above.

Transit trade (Com.), the business conected with the passage of goods through a country to their destination.

Upper transit (Astron.), the passage of a heavenly body across that part of the meridian which is above the polar axis.

verb

Transit v. t. (Astron.) To pass over the disk of (a heavenly body).

See images of 'Transit'

Etymology of 'Transit'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar

"Transit" Quotes from Famous Books

... place, and even while in transit, men organized for the purpose of self-protection, and in this necessary act law-abiding and criminal elements united. After arriving at the scenes of the gold fields, such organization was forgotten; ...

— The Story of the Outlaw - A Study of the Western Desperado • Emerson Hough

... headache, brought on by the heat of the sun in the launch. She declares that she cannot move; but our experienced escort, who much fears bilious fever for her, is resolved that she shall as soon as any means of transit can be procured. Heretofore, I have always traveled "without encumbrance." Is it treasonable to feel at this moment that these fair ...

— The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither • Isabella L. Bird (Mrs. Bishop)

... door bearing the sign, "Henry H. Rogers, President of the National Transit Co.," on the eleventh floor, and pass from the outer office into the beautiful, spacious mahogany apartment beyond, with its decorations of bronze bulls and bears and yacht-models, its walls covered with neatly framed autograph letters from Lincoln, ...

— Frenzied Finance - Vol. 1: The Crime of Amalgamated • Thomas W. Lawson

... scrawled a short letter in a crabbed hand, in which he insisted on the right of transit free of search, and denounced vengeance on any custom-house officer who should lay his unhallowed hand on any convoy protected by ...

— Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 7 • Charles H. Sylvester

... that doesn't alter the fact that the average cow is none too clean, the average milker's hands and clothes (to say nothing of his face, hat and head) none too clean, the milking-place none too clean, and the circumstances of transit such as don't make for cleanliness. I have put it very moderately, as those who know country dairy farms will admit. Those who particularly want clean cheese from uncooked milk should buy it from a County Council dairy farm ...

— The Healthy Life, Vol. V, Nos. 24-28 - The Independent Health Magazine • Various

Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com