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transcendental

trans·en·dent·alUK /ˌtɹæn(t)s(ɛ)nˈdɛntl̩/adjective, noun

transcendental is spelled T-R-A-N-S-C-E-N-D-E-N-T-A-L: 14 letters and 4 syllables (trans·en·dent·al). It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, transcendental means “Synonym of transcendent (“surpassing usual limits; excelling; extraordinary”)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in transcendental?

Letters14: T-R-A-N-S-C-E-N-D-E-N-T-A-L
Syllables4: trans·en·dent·al
In writing1.0 times per million words; the 28,918th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is transcendental?

Transcendental appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce transcendental?

  • UK /ˌtɹæn(t)s(ɛ)nˈdɛntl̩/
  • UK /ˌtɹɑːn-/
  • UK [-zɛn-]

Transcendental has 4 syllables, split trans·en·dent·al in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-transcendental.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of transcendental

  • more transcendental comparative
  • most transcendental superlative
  • transcendentals plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does transcendental mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Synonym of transcendent (“surpassing usual limits; excelling; extraordinary”).

  2. 2

    In the philosophy of Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.): synonym of transcendent (“transcending or extending beyond a single category”); also, synonym of metaphysical (“of or relating to the basic structure of reality”).

  3. 3

    In the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) or similar philosophies: concerned with the a priori or intuitive basis of knowledge, independent of experience.

  4. 4

    In the philosophy associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882): of or relating to transcendentalism (“a philosophy which stresses intuition and spirituality”).

  5. 5

    Beyond one's ordinary experience; extraordinary.

  6. 6

    Existing in the imagination; abstract, conceptual.

  7. 7

    Mystical, superhuman, supernatural.

  8. 8

    Of an element of an extension field: not algebraic, that is, not the root of any polynomial that has positive degree and rational coefficients; also, of an extension field: that contains elements which are not algebraic.

noun

  1. 1

    A thing which is transcendental (all adjective senses).

  2. 2

    Any one of the transcendental properties of being, especially beauty, goodness, and truth–which are respectively the ideals of art, religion, and science, and thus the principal subjects of the study of aesthetics, ethics, and logic.

  3. 3

    An element of an extension field, an extension field, a function, or a number which is not algebraic.

  4. 4

    obsoleteSynonym of transcendentalist (“one who believes in transcendentalism; a philosopher who asserts that true knowledge is obtained by faculties of the mind that transcend sensory experience”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Transcendental in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Spanishtrascendental (concerned with the a priori or intuitive basis…)
Germantranszendent (mystical, superhuman, supernatural – see also…)
Frenchtranscendante (not algebraic)
Portuguesetranscendente (not algebraic)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does transcendental come from?

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).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after transcendental