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transcendental

 - 3 dictionary results

tran⋅scen⋅den⋅tal

[tran-sen-den-tl, -suhn-]
–adjective
1. transcendent, surpassing, or superior.
2. being beyond ordinary or common experience, thought, or belief; supernatural.
3. abstract or metaphysical.
4. idealistic, lofty, or extravagant.
5. Philosophy.
a. beyond the contingent and accidental in human experience, but not beyond all human knowledge. Compare transcendent (def. 4b).
b. pertaining to certain theories, etc., explaining what is objective as the contribution of the mind.
c. Kantianism. of, pertaining to, based upon, or concerned with a priori elements in experience, which condition human knowledge. Compare transcendent (def. 4b).
–noun
6. Mathematics. transcendental number.
7. transcendentals, Scholasticism. categories that have universal application, as being, one, true, good.

Origin:
1615–25; < ML trānscendentālis. See transcendent, -al 1


tran⋅scen⋅den⋅tal⋅i⋅ty, noun
tran⋅scen⋅den⋅tal⋅ly, adverb

transcendental number

–noun Mathematics.
a number that is not a root of any algebraic equation having integral coefficients, as π or e.
Also called transcendental.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To transcendental
tran·scen·den·tal   (trān'sěn-děn'tl)   
adj.  
  1. Philosophy

    1. Concerned with the a priori or intuitive basis of knowledge as independent of experience.

    2. Asserting a fundamental irrationality or supernatural element in experience.

  2. Surpassing all others; superior.

  3. Beyond common thought or experience; mystical or supernatural.

  4. Mathematics Of or relating to a real or complex number that is not the root of any polynomial that has positive degree and rational coefficients.

tran'scen·den'tal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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