transcendental
trans·cen·den·tal
adjective
existing outside of or not in accordance with nature
- “find transcendental motives for sublunary action” Aldous Huxley
of or characteristic of a system of philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual about the empirical and material
Origin
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.
Phrases
- purely transcendental
- transcendental critique
- transcendental ego
- transcendental function
- transcendental idealism
- transcendental materialism
- transcendental meditation
- transcendental number
Related words
Word family
Pertaining to
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.