transcendentalism

[ tran-sen-den-tl-iz-uhm, -suhn- ]

/ ˌtræn sɛnˈdɛn tlˌɪz əm, -sən- /

Save This Word!

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.

QUIZ

SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

Should you take this quiz on “shall” versus “should”? It should prove to be a quick challenge!

Question 1 of 6

Which form is used to state an obligation or duty someone has?

shall

should

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of transcendentalism

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

OTHER WORDS FROM transcendentalism

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use transcendentalism in a sentence

As an old story goes: The New England transcendentalist Margaret Fuller was given to exclaiming, “I accept the universe!”
Tantrum on the Court|David Frum|July 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Carlyle is described as a 'transcendentalist'—a kind of qualified equivalent to intuitionist.
The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, Bart., K.C.S.I.|Sir Leslie Stephen
Proof seems to him, as it did to the contemporary Transcendentalist philosophers, an impertinence.
The American Mind|Bliss Perry
He was then an incipient Transcendentalist, and he did not fail to discover in me the seeds of the same plant.
Memoirs|Charles Godfrey Leland

The transcendentalist believes his ideas to be self-transcendent only because he finds that in fact they do bear fruits.
The Meaning of Truth|William James
There are passages in his Concord diary in which he refers to the itinerant transcendentalist in no very sympathetic manner.
The Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne|Frank Preston Stearns

British Dictionary definitions for transcendentalism

transcendentalism

/ (ˌtrænsɛnˈdɛntəˌlɪzəm) /

noun

any system of philosophy, esp that of Kant, holding that the key to knowledge of the nature of reality lies in the critical examination of the processes of reason on which depends the nature of experience
any system of philosophy, esp that of Emerson, that emphasizes intuition as a means to knowledge or the importance of the search for the divine

vague philosophical speculation

the state of being transcendental

something, such as thought or language, that is transcendental

Derived forms of transcendentalism

transcendentalist, noun, adjective

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

Cultural definitions for transcendentalism

transcendentalism

A movement in nineteenth-century American literature and thought. It called on people to view the objects in the world as small versions of the whole universe and to trust their individual intuitions. The two most noted American transcendentalists were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.