Transit /(?)/

Trans·it

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. The passage of a heavenly body over the meridian of a place, or through the field of a telescope. (Astron.)
  5. An instrument resembling a theodolite, used by surveyors and engineers; -- called also transit compass, and surveyor's transit.

Phrases & Compounds
Lower transit
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
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
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.
Transit trade
the business conected with the passage of goods through a country to their destination.
Upper transit
the passage of a heavenly body across that part of the meridian which is above the polar axis.

Transit

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