n. 1. also called traverse. a line intersecting two or more other lines; for example, in the configuration below, AB is a transversal of the other lines.
2. (Group theory) a set of canonical representatives of the cosets of a subgroup of a group; a set, T, of elements such that for a given subgroup, H, for every group element, x, there is exactly one member, t, of T for which xH = tH (a transversal of the left cosets of H in G), or else Hx = Ht (a transversal of the right cosets of H in G).