Transcendental

Quick meaning: Transcendental is an adjective meaning Synonym of transcendent (“surpassing usual limits; excelling; extraordinary”).

Meaning

Synonym of transcendent (“surpassing usual limits; excelling; extraordinary”).

More Meanings

1. Beyond one's ordinary experience; extraordinary.
2. Existing in the imagination; abstract, conceptual.
3. Mystical, superhuman, supernatural.
4. 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”).
5. In the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) or similar philosophies: concerned with the a priori or intuitive basis of knowledge, independent of experience.
6. In the philosophy associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882): of or relating to transcendentalism (“a philosophy which stresses intuition and spirituality”).
7. 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.

Example Sentences

All theſe conſiderations hovvever vvere belovv the tranſcendental dignity of the Revolution Society.

[T]he vviſh for riches; a vviſh indeed prevalent, that it may be conſidered as univerſal and tranſcendental, as the deſire in vvhich all other desires are included, […]

The chief mystics in Germany, it would appear, are the Transcendental Philosophers, [Immanuel] Kant, [Johann Gottlieb] Fichte, and [Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph] Schelling!

[T]he Deity himſelf, tho' he perceiveth neither Pleaſure, nor Pain, nor any thing elſe, as vve do: yet muſt needs have a Perfect and Tranſcendental Perception, both of Pleaſure, and Pain, and of all other things.

Word Forms

• transcendentals

Synonyms for transcendental

Depending on context, synonyms include surpassing, transcendent, superrational, transcendentalist, preternatural, otherworldly.

Antonyms for transcendental

Common opposites include algebraic.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include preternatural, supernatural, otherworldly, transcendent, epochal, meaningful.

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