Main Entry: tran·scen·dent

Pronunciation: \-dənt\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin transcendent-, transcendens, present participle of transcendere

Date: 15th century

1 a : exceeding usual limits : surpassing b : extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience c in Kantian philosophy : being beyond the limits of all possible experience and knowledge
2 : being beyond comprehension
3 : transcending the universe or material existence — compare immanent 2
4 : universally applicable or significant <the antislavery movement…recognized the transcendent importance of liberty — L. H. Tribe>

— tran·scen·dent·ly adverb