Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Surpassing others; preeminent or supreme.
  • adjective Lying beyond the ordinary range of perception.
  • adjective Transcending the Aristotelian categories.
  • adjective In Kant's theory of knowledge, being beyond the limits of experience and hence unknowable.
  • adjective Being above and independent of the material universe. Used of the Deity.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Surpassing; excelling; superior or supreme; extraordinary: as, transcendent worth.
  • In scholastic philos., not included under one of the ten categories; higher than the categories.
  • In Kantian philosophy, transcending experience; unrealizable in experience; not an object of possible experience.
  • Transcending the universe of matter; not essentially connected with the universe; not cosmic: as, a transcendent deity.
  • SynonymsPreëminent, surpassing, supereminent, unequaled, unparalleled, unrivaled, peerless.
  • noun That which surpasses or excels; anything greatly superior or supereminent.
  • noun In metaphysics: A reality above the categories or predicaments.
  • noun That which is altogether beyond the bounds of human cognition and thought. Compare I., 3.
  • noun In mathematics, a transcendental expression or function.
  • In mathematics, indefinable by any combination of a finite number of equations with rational integral coefficients.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That which surpasses or is supereminent; that which is very excellent.
  • adjective Very excellent; superior or supreme in excellence; surpassing others.
  • adjective (Kantian Philos.) Transcending, or reaching beyond, the limits of human knowledge; -- applied to affirmations and speculations concerning what lies beyond the reach of the human intellect.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective surpassing usual limits
  • adjective beyond the range of usual perception
  • adjective free from constraints of the material world
  • noun That which surpasses or is supereminent; something excellent.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective exceeding or surpassing usual limits especially in excellence
  • adjective beyond and outside the ordinary range of human experience or understanding

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

transcend +‎ -ent

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word transcendent.

Examples

  • Also talking about what he thinks is his best quality, which is his leadership, his experience on national security, and what he calls the transcendent issue that e wants voters to look to him for, and that is the war in Iraq and national security.

    CNN Transcript Feb 3, 2008 2008

  • Foley is what I refer to as a transcendent performer.

    PWTorch.com 2008

  • We are proud that a plant native to our country is transcendent from a commercial point of view.

    The poinsettia, Mexico's Christmas gift to the world 2009

  • We are proud that a plant native to our country is transcendent from a commercial point of view.

    The poinsettia, Mexico's Christmas gift to the world 2009

  • And the trouble with modern man is that having given up the belief in transcendent things, he still has inside of himself a sense of transcendent obligations.

    Fairness and Justice « Unknowing 2010

  • GERGEN: My sense is we're talking here about Iran, about the nuclear proliferation issue, which is a transcendent issue, long-term transcendent issue.

    CNN Transcript Aug 1, 2008 2008

  • GERGEN: My sense is we're talking here about Iran, about the nuclear proliferation issue which is transcendent issue; long-term transcendent issue.

    CNN Transcript Feb 11, 2008 2008

  • GERGEN: My sense is we're talking here about Iran, about the nuclear proliferation issue which is transcendent issue; long-term transcendent issue.

    CNN Transcript Feb 7, 2008 2008

  • GERGEN: My sense is that we're talking here with Iran about the nuclear proliferation issue, which is a transcendent issue, long-term transcendent issue.

    CNN Transcript Aug 1, 2008 2008

  • Plotinus calls the transcendent source of reality by the traditional names of the One and the Good, though he is well aware that these names, like all others, are inadequate.

    NEO-PLATONISM A. HILARY ARMSTRONG 1968

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • 1969, in the sunshine.

    Boards of Canada.

    September 30, 2007