The following definition of transitive is provided from Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.
Copyright © 1990 by Merriam-Webster Inc.
tran-si-tive \'tran(t)s-*t-iv, 'tranz-; 'tran(t)s-tiv\ adj 2 : being or relating to a relation with the property that if the relation holds between a first element and a second and between the second element and a third, it holds between the first and third elements; <equality is a ~ relation>\*\ in unstressed syllables as in banana, collide, abut.