transcendent

Transcendent is an adjective describing something that goes beyond ordinary experience, understanding, or existence. Its etymology is from the Latin transcendere, meaning to go beyond.

In philosophy and theology, the term denotes realities or truths that lie beyond the limits of ordinary experience or empirical observation. It is often contrasted with immanence, which denotes that which is present within and compatible with the world as we experience it. In religious contexts, the divine is frequently described as transcendent, existing beyond the physical universe and human comprehension. In some philosophical traditions, the term also relates to the distinction between what can be experienced and what conditions experience itself, as in Kantian discussions of the transcendent versus the transcendental.

Historically, scholastic philosophy spoke of the transcendental properties, or transcendents, such as being (ens), unity (unum), truth (verum), and goodness (bonum). These properties are said to pertain to all beings and to transcend particular categories of being.

In mathematics, transcendence refers to a specific property of numbers and functions. A real or complex number is transcendental if it is not a root of any nonzero polynomial equation with integer coefficients. Classic examples include pi and e. The term also applies to certain functions, which are called transcendental because they are not algebraic.

In contemporary usage, transcendence often describes experiences, goals, or art that surpass ordinary limits or conventional understanding, as well as mathematical objects that cannot be expressed by algebraic equations.