Dictionary

transcend en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /tɹæn(t)ˈsɛnd/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English transcenden, from Old French transcender, from Latin transcendō (“to climb over, step over, surpass, transcend”), from trans (“over”) + scandō (“to climb”); see scan; compare ascend, descend.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To pass beyond the limits of something.
   • Shepard: What do you want from us? Slaves? Resources? My kind transcends your very understanding. We are each a nation. Independent, free of all weakness. You cannot grasp the nature of our existence. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Virmire:
   • such personal popes, emperors, or elective kings, as shall transcend their limits a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a Warre with Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC:
   • We cannot transcend what we refuse to face.
2. (transitive) To surpass, as in intensity or power; to excel.
   • How much her worth transcended all her kind. c. 1698, John Dryden, Epitaph on the Monument of a Fair Maiden Lady:
3. (obsolete) To climb; to mount.
   • lights in the heavens transcending the region of the clouds
   • your Muse soars up to the upper, and transcending that too, takes her fight among the Celestial bodies 1655, James Howell, “To Sir Tho. Haw.”, in Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ. Familiar Letters Domestic and Forren. […], 3rd edition, volume (please specify the page), London: […] Humphrey Mos[e]ley, […], →OCLC:

Forms

Antonyms

fall short of · stop short

Deriveds

transcendentalist · transcendingly · transcendental · transcension · transcendingness · transcendentalism · transcending · transcendency · transcendentally · transcendable · untranscended · transcendent · transcendence

Hyponyms

go too far · clear · cross the line

Synonyms

overstride · breach · outcompass · overgo · exceed (to pass beyond the limits of something) · overpass · surpass · dwarf · ascend (to climb) · eclipse · transcend · go beyond · cap · forpass · overreach · outstrip · better (to surpass something) · outreach · overstep · transgress · outstep · excel · trespass

Translations (33)

th ก้าวข้าม (to pass beyond the limits of something) · cs překonat (to pass beyond the limits of something) · es sobrepasar (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · bg надхвърлям (to pass beyond the limits of something) · la supero (to pass beyond the limits of something) · ca transcendir (to pass beyond the limits of something) · es transcender (to pass beyond the limits of something) · sh transcendirati (to pass beyond the limits of something) · ca transcendir (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · de überschreiten (to pass beyond the limits of something) · es trascender (to pass beyond the limits of something) · fi ylittää (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · bg превъзхождам (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · bg превишавам (to pass beyond the limits of something) · tr aşmak (to pass beyond the limits of something) · fi ylittää (to pass beyond the limits of something) · ota آشمق (to pass beyond the limits of something) · cmn 超越 (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · ru переступа́ть преде́лы (to pass beyond the limits of something) · eo transcendi (to pass beyond the limits of something) · sw shinda (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · cmn 超越 (to pass beyond the limits of something) · ru превыша́ть (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · fr transcender (to pass beyond the limits of something) · ca ultrapassar (to pass beyond the limits of something) · es superar (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · sh nadići (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · ca ultrapassar (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · pt transcender (to pass beyond the limits of something) · sh prevazići (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · de übersteigen (to pass beyond the limits of something) · ru превосходи́ть (to surpass something in intensity or power; to excel) · nl overstijgen (to pass beyond the limits of something)