intransitive

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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 comparable 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 comparable, rare 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.
not comparable 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.

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).