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preterhuman

American  
[pree-ter-hyoo-muhn, -yoo-, pre-] / ˌpri tərˈhyu mən, -ˈyu-, ˌprɛ- /

adjective

  1. beyond what is human.

    preterhuman experience.


preterhuman British  
/ ˌpriːtəˈhjuːmən /

adjective

  1. rare beyond what is human

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of preterhuman

First recorded in 1805–15; preter- + human

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

She had scarcely appeared on the threshold, cloaked and screened by her thick black veil, when a clear voice, whose tones were preterhuman in their melody, addressed her.

From Joseph II. and His Court by Mühlbach, L. (Luise)

He saw, it is true, the terrible danger with which the flight was connected, but he was comforted at thought of the preterhuman strength of Ursus.

From Quo Vadis: a narrative of the time of Nero by Curtin, Jeremiah

Sister Angelica, the nurse, had watched her patient with preterhuman vigilance.

From Prince Eugene and His Times by Mühlbach, L. (Luise)

The remote desert, the solitary rock, the rude dwelling hollowed from the cave, the eternal commune with their own hearts, with nature, and their dreams of God,—all make a picture of severe and preterhuman grandeur.

From The Pilgrims of the Rhine by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

Despite her age—for she had passed into middle life before she had borne Pausanias—Alithea retained all the traces of a marvellous and almost preterhuman beauty.

From Pausanias, the Spartan The Haunted and the Haunters, an Unfinished Historical Romance by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron