transcendentalism

[ tran-sen-den-tl-iz-uh m, -suh n- ]

/ ˌtræn sɛnˈdɛn tlˌɪz əm, -sən- /

noun

transcendental character, thought, or language.

Also called transcendental philosophy. any philosophy based upon the doctrine that the principles of reality are to be discovered by the study of the processes of thought, or a philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical: in the U.S., associated with Emerson.

Nearby words

transcendental idealism, transcendental logic, transcendental meditation, transcendental number, transcendental unity of apperception, transcendentalism, transcendentalize, transcendently, transcension, transcobalamin, transconductance

Origin of transcendentalism

From the German word Transcendentalismus, dating back to 1795–1805. See transcendental, -ism

Related forms

tran·scen·den·tal·ist, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for transcendentalism

That was sadly even true for Margaret Fuller, one of the leading lights of transcendentalism.
Why Do Women Love Bad Men? A New Life of Margaret Fuller|Susan Cheever|March 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Here he laid himself open to the charge of extravagance and transcendentalism, and undoubtedly exceeded the logical limit.
Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters|H. Addington Bruce
The justice of the comparison, in the first part of the above extract, of Quakerism with Transcendentalism, may be disputed.
Transcendentalism in New England|Octavius Brooks Frothingham
The decease of the "Harbinger" was the end of that phase of Transcendentalism.
Transcendentalism in New England|Octavius Brooks Frothingham

Transcendentalism has been a part of race unfolding since time began, and will continue to be throughout all race evolution.
Freedom Talks No. II|Julia Seton
Knickerbocker Magazine, articles on transcendentalism in, 137.
Transcendentalism in New England|Octavius Brooks Frothingham

British Dictionary definitions for transcendentalism