ab extra

American  

[ahb ek-strah, ab ek-struh] / ɑb ˈɛk strɑ, æb ˈɛk strə /

adverb

Latin.

1. from the outside.

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Example Sentences

"It seems to me," he said, "that there is a guiding and directing principle ab extra which interacts with the material of the physical universe but is not of it."

From Time Magazine Archive

But in most English humor,--as indeed in all English literature except the very highest,--the social class to which the writer does not belong is regarded ab extra.

From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 6 by Mabie, Hamilton Wright

This Life is not something added ab extra to the natural man; it is the normal and appropriate development of the natural man.

From Natural Law in the Spiritual World by Drummond, Henry

But the germination of every seed depends on conditions ab extra, and all germs are modified, in their development, by geographical and climatal surroundings.

From Christianity and Greek Philosophy or, the relation between spontaneous and reflective thought in Greece and the positive teaching of Christ and His Apostles by Cocker, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin)

Those who are so fortunate as to occupy the philosophical position of spectators ab extra are very few in any generation.

From Among My Books First Series by Lowell, James Russell