transcendental
UK /ˌtɹæn(t)s(ɛ)nˈdɛntl̩/ · US /ˌtɹænˌ(t)sɛnˈdɛntl̩/ adjective, noun
Forms transcendentals
- adjective Synonym of transcendent (“surpassing usual limits; excelling; extraordinary”).
- adjective In the philosophy of Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.): synonym of transcendent (“transcending or extending beyond a single category”); also, synonym of metaphysical (“of or relating to the basic structure of reality”).
- adjective In the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) or similar philosophies: concerned with the a priori or intuitive basis of knowledge, independent of experience.
- adjective In the philosophy associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882): of or relating to transcendentalism (“a philosophy which stresses intuition and spirituality”).
- adjective Beyond one's ordinary experience; extraordinary.
- adjective Existing in the imagination; abstract, conceptual.
- adjective Mystical, superhuman, supernatural.
- adjective (algebra, field theory) Of an element of an extension field: not algebraic, that is, not the root of any polynomial that has positive degree and rational coefficients; also, of an extension field: that contains elements which are not algebraic.
- noun A thing which is transcendental (all adjective senses).
- noun (Christian theology, metaphysics, philosophy (specifically Platonism), chiefly in the plural) Any one of the transcendental properties of being, especially beauty, goodness, and truth—which are respectively the ideals of art, religion, and science, and thus the principal subjects of the study of aesthetics, ethics, and logic.
- noun (mathematics) An element of an extension field, an extension field, a function, or a number which is not algebraic.
- noun (obsolete) Synonym of transcendentalist (“one who believes in transcendentalism; a philosopher who asserts that true knowledge is obtained by faculties of the mind that transcend sensory experience”).
Synonyms
surpassing transcendent superrational transcendentalist nonnatural otherworldly preternatural
Antonyms
Etymology
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Medieval Latin transcendentālis + English -al (suffix meaning of or relating to forming adjectives; and forming nouns, especially of verbal action). Transcendentālis is derived from Latin trānscendentem + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship); and trānscendentem is the accusative singular form of trānscendēns (“exceeding, surpassing, transcending”), the present active participle of trānscendō (“to climb, cross, pass, or step over; to exceed, surpass, transcend”), from trāns- (prefix meaning ‘across; beyond; through’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- (“to cross over; to overcome; to pass through”)) + scandō (“to ascend, climb; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to ascend; to jump up”)).
The noun is derived from the adjective.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Supereminent; surpassing others; as, transcendental being or qualities.
- adjective In the Kantian system, of or pertaining to that which can be determined a priori in regard to the fundamental principles of all human knowledge. What is transcendental, therefore, transcends empiricism; but is does not transcend all human knowledge, or become transcendent. It simply signifies the a priori or necessary conditions of experience which, though affording the conditions of experience, transcend the sphere of that contingent knowledge which is acquired by experience.
- noun A transcendentalist. [Obs.]
Etymology [Cf. F. transcendantal, G. transcendental.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “transcendental”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details