intransitive
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L322690 on Wikidata ↗adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L337856 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɪnˈtɹænsətɪv/ / /ɪnˈtɹænzətɪv/
adj
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in-bor. Middle English in- English in- English transitive English intransitive From in- + transitive.
- Not transitive: not having, or not taking, a direct object.
“The word "drink" is a transitive verb in "they drink wine", but an intransitive one in "they drink often."”
- Not transitive or passing further; kept; detained.
“1664-1667, Jeremy Taylor, Dissuasive from Popery And then it is for the image's sake and so far is intransitive; but whatever is paid more to the image is transitive and passes further.”
- Of a set of dice: containing three dice A, B, and C, with the property that A rolls higher than B more than half the time, and B rolls higher than C more than half the time, but lacking the property that A rolls higher than C more than half the time. See intransitive dice and intransitive game.
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in-bor. Middle English in- English in- English transitive English intransitive From in- + transitive.
- An intransitive verb.
“This means that subcategorization properties do not allow us to distinguish between transitives and intransitives (both types of verbs are allowed, but not obliged, to take a direct object).”