transcendent

[ tran-sen-duhnt ]
See synonyms for transcendent on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. going beyond ordinary limits; surpassing; exceeding.

  2. superior or supreme.

  1. Theology. (of the Deity) transcending the universe, time, etc.: Compare immanent (def. 3).

  2. Philosophy.

    • Scholasticism. above all possible modes of the infinite.

    • Kantianism. transcending experience; not realizable in human experience.: Compare transcendental (defs. 5a, c).

    • (in modern realism) referred to, but beyond, direct apprehension; outside consciousness.

nounMathematics.

Origin of transcendent

1
1575–85; <Latin trānscendent- (stem of trānscendēns), present participle of trānscendere.See transcend, -ent

Other words from transcendent

  • tran·scend·ent·ly, adverb
  • tran·scend·ent·ness, noun
  • su·per·tran·scend·ent, adjective
  • su·per·tran·scend·ent·ly, adverb
  • su·per·tran·scend·ent·ness, noun
  • un·tran·scend·ent, adjective

Words Nearby transcendent

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use transcendent in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for transcendent

transcendent

/ (trænˈsɛndənt) /


adjective
  1. exceeding or surpassing in degree or excellence

    • (in the philosophy of Kant) beyond or before experience; a priori

    • (of a concept) falling outside a given set of categories

    • beyond consciousness or direct apprehension

  1. theol (of God) having continuous existence outside the created world

  2. free from the limitations inherent in matter

noun
  1. philosophy a transcendent thing

Derived forms of transcendent

  • transcendence or transcendency, noun
  • transcendently, adverb
  • transcendentness, noun

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