Main Entry: ¹tran·sit

Pronunciation: \ˈtran(t)-sət, ˈtran-zət\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English transite, from Latin transitus, from transire to go across, pass

Date: 15th century

1 a : an act, process, or instance of passing through or over b : change, transition c (1) : conveyance of persons or things from one place to another (2) : usu. local transportation especially of people by public conveyance; also : vehicles or a system engaged in such transportation
2 a : passage of a celestial body over the meridian of a place or through the field of a telescope b : passage of a smaller body (as Venus) across the disk of a larger (as the sun)
3 : a theodolite with the telescope mounted so that it can be transited