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

It was a strange position for a young woman to be in—that of watcher over the marriage relations of two persons, to neither of whom she could be a friend otherwise than ab extra.

From Paul Faber, Surgeon by MacDonald, George

Viewed ab extra, there is no doubt the boldest policy is the best.

From The Life of the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles W. Dilke, Volume 1 by Gwynn, Stephen Lucius

Milton is the deity of prescience; he stands ab extra, and drives a fiery chariot and four, making the horses feel the iron curb which holds them in.

From Specimens of the Table Talk of Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Coleridge, Henry Nelson

As long as there was any thing ab extra to conquer, the state advanced: when nothing remained but what was Roman, then, as a matter of course, civil war began.

From Specimens of the Table Talk of Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Coleridge, Henry Nelson