TRANSCENDENTAL
nonnatural, otherworldly, preternatural, transcendental
(adjective) existing outside of or not in accordance with nature; “find transcendental motives for sublunary action”-Aldous Huxley
transcendental
(adjective) of or characteristic of a system of philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical and material
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Noun
transcendental (plural transcendentals)
(obsolete) A transcendentalist.
(philosophy, metaphysics, Platonism, Christian theology, usually, in the plural) Any one of the three transcendental properties of being: truth, beauty or goodness, which respectively are the ideals of science, art and religion and the principal subjects of the study of logic, aesthetics and ethics.
Adjective
transcendental (comparative more transcendental, superlative most transcendental)
(philosophy) Concerned with the a priori or intuitive basis of knowledge, independent of experience.
Superior; surpassing all others; extraordinary; transcendent.
Mystical or supernatural.
(algebra, number theory, field theory, of a number or an element of an extension field) Not algebraic (i.e, not the root of any polynomial that has positive degree and rational coefficients).
(algebra, field theory, of an extension field) That contains elements that are not algebraic.
Antonyms
• (not the root of a polynomial with rational coefficients): algebraic
• (containing elements that are not the root of a polynomial): algebraic
Hypernyms
• (not the root of a polynomial with rational coefficients): irrational
Source: Wiktionary
Tran`scen*den"tal, a. Etym: [Cf. F. transcendantal, G.
transcendental.]
1. Supereminent; surpassing others; as, transcendental being or
qualities.
2. (Philos.)
Definition: 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.
3. Vaguely and ambitiously extravagant in speculation, imagery, or
diction.
Note: In mathematics, a quantity is said to be transcendental
relative to another quantity when it is expressed as a transcendental
function of the latter; thus, ax, 102x, log x, sin x, tan x, etc.,
are transcendental relative to x. Transcendental curve (Math.), a
curve in which one ordinate is a transcendental function of the
other.
– Transcendental equation (Math.), an equation into which a
transcendental function of one of the unknown or variable quantities
enters.
– Transcendental function. (Math.) See under Function.
Syn.
– Transcendental, Empirical. These terms, with the corresponding
nouns, transcendentalism and empiricism, are of comparatively recent
origin. Empirical refers to knowledge which is gained by the
experience of actual phenomena, without reference to the principles
or laws to which they are to be referred, or by which they are to be
explained. Transcendental has reference to those beliefs or
principles which are not derived from experience, and yet are
absolutely necessary to make experience possible or useful. Such, in
the better sense of the term, is the transcendental philosophy, or
transcendentalism. Each of these words is also used in a bad sense,
empiricism applying to that one-sided view of knowledge which
neglects or loses sight of the truths or principles referred to
above, and trusts to experience alone; transcendentalism, to the
opposite extreme, which, in its deprecation of experience, loses
sight of the relations which facts and phenomena sustain to
principles, and hence to a kind of philosophy, or a use of language,
which is vague, obscure, fantastic, or extravagant.
Tran`scen*den"tal, n.
Definition: A transcendentalist. [Obs.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition