TRANSVERSE

transverse, cross(a), transversal, thwartwise

(adjective) extending or lying across; in a crosswise direction; at right angles to the long axis; “cross members should be all steel”; “from the transverse hall the stairway ascends gracefully”; “transversal vibrations”; “transverse colon”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

transverse (comparative more transverse, superlative most transverse)

Situated or lying across; side to side, relative to some defined "forward" direction; identified with movement across areas.

(geometry, of an intersection) Not tangent: so that a nondegenerate angle is formed between the two things intersecting.

Antonyms

• (lying across): longitudinal

Noun

transverse (plural transverses)

Anything that is transverse or athwart.

(geometry) The longer, or transverse, axis of an ellipse.

Verb

transverse (third-person singular simple present transverses, present participle transversing, simple past and past participle transversed)

(transitive) To overturn; to change.

(transitive, obsolete) To change from prose into verse, or from verse into prose.

Source: Wiktionary

Trans*verse", a. Etym: [L. transversus, p. p. of transvertere to turn on direct across; trans across + vertere to turn: cf. F. transverse. See Verse, and cf. Traverse.]

Definition: Lying or being across, or in a crosswise direction; athwart; -- often opposed to Ant: longitudinal. Transverse axis (of an ellipse or hyperbola) (Geom.), that axis which passes through the foci.

– Transverse partition (Bot.), a partition, as of a pericarp, at right angles with the valves, as in the siliques of mustard.

Trans"verse, n.

1. Anything that is transverse or athwart.

2. (Geom.)

Definition: The longer, or transverse, axis of an ellipse.

Trans*verse", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Transversed; p. pr. & vb. n. Transversing.]

Definition: To overturn; to change. [R.] C. Leslie.

Trans*verse", v. t. Etym: [Pref. trans- + verse, n. Cf.Transpose.]

Definition: To change from prose into verse, or from verse into prose. [Obs.] Duke of Buckingham.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition