Transaction, n.
Etymology: [L. transactio, fr. transigere, transactum, to drive through, carry through, accomplish, transact; trans across, over + agere to drive; cf. F. transaction. See Act, Agent.]
1. The doing or performing of any business; management of any affair; performance.
2. That which is done; an affair; as, the transactions on the exchange.
3. (Civil Law)
An adjustment of a dispute between parties by mutual agreement. Transaction of a society, the published record of what it has done or accomplished.
2 more senses
Syn. -- Proceeding; action; process. -- Transaction, Proceeding. A transaction is something already done and completed; a proceeding is either something which is now going on, or, if ended, is still contemplated with reference to its progress or successive stages.
Note: " We the word proceeding in application to an affray in the street, and the word transaction to some commercial negotiation that has been carried on between certain persons. The proceeding marks the manner of proceeding, as when we speak of the proceedings in a court of law. The transaction marks the business transacted; as, the transactions on the Exchange." Crabb.
Shades of meaning
One's acts or deeds may be exclusively his own; his transactions involve the agency or participation of others. A transaction is something completed; a proceeding is or is viewed as something in progress; but since transaction is often used to include the steps leading to the conclusion, while proceedings may result in action, the dividing line between the two words becomes sometimes quite faint, tho transaction often emphasizes the fact of something done, or brought to a conclusion. Both transactions and proceedings are used of the records of a deliberative body, especially when published; strictly used, the two are distinguished; as, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London give in full the papers read; the Proceedings of the American Philological Association give in full the business done, with mere abstracts of or extracts from the papers read. Compare act; business.