As a noun, it is the process or period of changing from one state or condition to another. As a verb, it means to move or change from one state to another.
It comes from Latin 'transitio', from 'transire' meaning 'to go across'. The word has long been used for shifts in music, speech, and life stages.
Transitions are the in-between spaces of life—graduating, moving, changing jobs—when your old identity doesn’t fully fit and the new one isn’t fully built. We often rush through them, but they’re where most real growth actually happens.
'Transition' is widely used for gender transition, a deeply personal and often politicized process for trans and nonbinary people. Historically, medical and legal systems framed transition in pathologizing or gatekeeping terms.
Use 'transition' respectfully for gender transition, honoring self-descriptions; avoid using it metaphorically in ways that trivialize trans experiences when the context is clearly about gender.
["change","shift","move","phase change"]
Trans and nonbinary people have reclaimed language around transition, emphasizing self-determination and lived expertise over institutional control.
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