adj. & n.
adj. 1 = TRANSCENDENT. 2 a (in Kantian philosophy) presupposed in and necessary to experience; a priori. b (in Schelling's philosophy) explaining matter and objective things as products of the subjective mind. c (esp. in Emerson's philosophy) regarding the divine as the guiding principle in man. 3 a visionary, abstract. b vague, obscure. 4 Math. (of a function) not capable of being produced by the algebraical operations of addition, multiplication, and involution, or the inverse operations.
n. a transcendental term, conception, etc. transcendental cognition a priori knowledge. Transcendental Meditation a method of detaching oneself from problems, anxiety, etc., by silent meditation and repetition of a mantra. transcendental object a real (unknown and unknowable) object. transcendental unity unity brought about by cognition. transcendentally adv.
[ med.L transcendentalis (as TRANSCENDENT) ]