transcendental

American  

[tran-sen-den-tl, -suhn-] / ˌtræn sɛnˈdɛn tl, -sən- /

adjective

1. transcendent, surpassing, or superior.

2. being beyond ordinary or common experience, thought, or belief; supernatural.

3. abstract or metaphysical.

4. idealistic, lofty, or extravagant.

5. Philosophy.

   1. beyond the contingent and accidental in human experience, but not beyond all human knowledge.

   2. pertaining to certain theories, etc., explaining what is objective as the contribution of the mind.

   3. Kantianism. of, pertaining to, based upon, or concerned with a priori elements in experience, which condition human knowledge.

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noun

1. Mathematics. transcendental number.

2. Scholasticism. transcendentals, categories that have universal application, as being, one, true, good.

transcendental British  

/ ˌtrænsɛnˈdɛntəl /

adjective

1. transcendent, superior, or surpassing

2. 1. (of a judgment or logical deduction) being both synthetic and a priori

   2. of or relating to knowledge of the presuppositions of thought

3. philosophy beyond our experience of phenomena, although not beyond potential knowledge

4. theol surpassing the natural plane of reality or knowledge; supernatural or mystical

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Other Word Forms

• transcendentality noun
• transcendentally adverb
• untranscendental adjective
• untranscendentally adverb

Etymology

Origin of transcendental

From the Medieval Latin word trānscendentālis, dating back to 1615–25. See transcendent, -al ¹

Example Sentences

Any danger of “Bird School” vanishing into the transcendental ether disappears the moment the birds start showing up in the Bird House.

From The Wall Street Journal

But the aid was not "transcendental," he said.

From Barron's

Many people report leaving their bodies and other transcendental experiences after near-fatal accidents.

From Salon

There’s always a ghost in the machine, no matter what a corporation wants to present their product as a transcendental object.

From Los Angeles Times

Lynch seemed to have found some measure of his trademark transcendental calmness by 1987, when he attended his second Oscars for “Blue Velvet.”

From Los Angeles Times