The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Transverse \Trans"verse\, n.
   1. Anything that is transverse or athwart.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Geom.) The longer, or transverse, axis of an ellipse.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Transverse \Trans*verse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Transversed; p.
   pr. & vb. n. Transversing.]
   To overturn; to change. [R.] --C. Leslie.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Transverse \Trans*verse"\, v. t. [Pref. trans- + verse, n.
   Cf.Transpose.]
   To change from prose into verse, or from verse into prose.
   [Obs.] --Duke of Buckingham.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Transverse \Trans*verse"\, a. [L. transversus, p. p. of
   transvertere to turn on direct across; trans across + vertere
   to turn: cf. F. transverse. See Verse, and cf. Traverse.]
   Lying or being across, or in a crosswise direction; athwart;
   -- often opposed to longitudinal.
   [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

transverse
    adj 1: 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" [syn: cross(a), transverse,
           transversal, thwartwise]