Definition of "transept" [tran•sept]

• The transverse part of a cruciform church, crossing the nave at right angles. (noun)
• Either of the two lateral arms of such a part. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Descending to the church, the Pope proceeds to the northern transept, which is fitted up for the occasion."
• "In respect to the latter we would like to investigate whether the form of the building, namely a transept-basilica, corresponds to a martyrium, housing the relics of a saint."
• "Covering the foundations and bedrock in the northern part of the transept was a floor of limestone slabs laid in a bed of mortar, some of them still present in the northwest and southeast corners of the space."