transactional

Etymology

It is formed from English transaction + -al.^[2][3][4] The OED compares French transactionnel, recorded by Littré.^[2] The noun goes back, partly through Old French transaccion (“exchange, transaction”), to Late Latin transactiō (“an agreement, accomplishment”), from Latin transigō (“to drive through; to accomplish”).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or involving a transaction; taking place in fact or reality: 1858, in H. Bushnell's Sermons for New Life.^[2] Etymonline also dates the word to 1858.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense "taking place in reality" was present from the first record,^[2][3] and Merriam-Webster still gives "realized in actuality" as a specific sense.^[5] In theology, where transaction had been applied to the Atonement since 1861, the adjective was used of that doctrine from 1901.^[2] In psychology it has been used since 1961, when it appeared in a title by E. Berne, of communication between people viewed as exchanges of attitude between them, especially in transactional analysis, a form of psychotherapy.^[2][3][5][6]

Timeline

• 1858 – of or involving a transaction; taking place in reality.^[2][3]
• 1901 – in theology, of the Atonement viewed as a transaction.^[2]
• 1961 – in psychology, of interpersonal communication viewed as transactions.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or involving a transaction: the bank's transactional records.^[5][2][4]
2. Taking place in fact; realized in actuality.^[5][2]
3. (psychology) Relating to communication between people viewed as a series of exchanges between them.^[2][4]
4. (theology) Relating to the Atonement viewed as a transaction.^[2]

Word family

• transactional analysis
• transactionally

Related words

• transaction
• transact

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins