transcend, v.
(trɑːnˈsɛnd, træn-)
Also 5–6 -send(e, (6 transsend).
[ad. L. tran(s)scend-ĕre to climb over or beyond, surmount, f. trans- + scand-ĕre to climb. So OF. transcender, -scendre (14th c.).]
† 1. trans. To pass over or go beyond (a physical obstacle or limit); to climb or get over the top of (a wall, mountain, etc.). Obs.
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 1461 That we may transcende this ryuer safe and sure. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 251 Gif ony Pichtis transcendit this dike to be punist na les than thay had offendit aganis the majeste of Romanis. 1602 W. Fulbecke Pandectes 4 In haruest he [the sun] transcendeth the other line of the æquator and so being farre remoued from vs causeth winter. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. iv. 254 Mountaines not to be transcended without much difficulty. 1695 Ld. Preston Boeth. iv. 161, I have nimble Wings which can Transcend the Polar Height. |
2. To pass or extend beyond or above (a non-physical limit); to go beyond the limits of (something immaterial); to exceed.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter lx. 6 Þai ere a day þat contenys and transcendis þe warldis of all generaciouns. 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 45 They without doubt transende the due bonde of measure. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 10 It transsendith the knowledge of man. 1643 Baker Chron., Hen. VI 75 He had transcended his Commission. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. i. §5 Infinity transcends our capacity of apprehension. 1713 Young Last Day i. 48 'Twill raise thy wonder, but transcend thy praise. 1805 Foster Ess. iv. iii. 161 A genius almost transcending human nature. 1855 H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. ii. xvii. §81 Unable as we are to transcend consciousness. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 124 Ideas..derived from external objects as well as transcending them. |
b. Theol. To be above and independent of: esp. said of the Deity in relation to the universe; see transcendence 1 b.
| 1898 Illingworth Divine Immanence iii. 71 It is through this power of self-consciousness..that spirit transcends matter. Ibid. 72 The divine presence..will be the presence of a spirit, which infinitely transcends the material order, yet sustains and indwells it the while. 1907 ― Doctr. Trinity x. 196 On the other hand, we may..think of God as dwelling in the universe, without in any way transcending it. This means pantheism of one kind or another. |
† c. intr. To go beyond, go farther. Obs. rare—1.
| 1629 Parkinson Paradisi (1904) 529 Hauing thus furnished you out a Kitchen Garden..let me a little transcend, and..furnish them with some few other herbes. |
3. trans. To go beyond in some respect, quality, or attribute; to rise above, surpass, excel, exceed.
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 8 In sighte transendyng alle erthely creatures. a 1529 Skelton Dethe Erle Northumbld. 144 Transendyng far myne homly Muse. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. i. 7 They imitate the Italians, but transcend them in their revenges. 1679 Penn Addr. Prot. ii. i. (1692) 59 The Roman Church hath chiefly transcended other Societies in these Errors. 1766 Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767) I. vi. 222 Thy merits..far transcend them all. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. II. ii. 191 The Poles also..strive to transcend one another in civility. 1866 R. M. Ferguson Electr. (1870) 11 Electro-magnets far transcend permanent magnets in power. |
† 4. intr. To ascend, go up, rise; to pass upward or onward. Also fig. Obs.
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 190 Begyn we shall At the Cytee of Chester..And so transcendynge vp towarde Shrewysbury. a 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus ii. 604 Bot quhen sic folk abone thair stait transcend. 1596 Sir J. Davies Orchestra cxii, Shee wheeles about, and ere the daunce doth end, Into her former place shee doth transcend. 1613 Heywood Silver Age iii. i. Wks. 1874 III. 135 Thy flowers thou canst not spare, thy bosome lend, On which to rest whil'st Phœbus doth transcend. |
† b. trans. To ascend, to mount into. Obs. rare.
| 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster v. ii, It will be thought a thing ridiculous..that any poet..should, with decorum, transcend Cæsars chair. |
5. intr. To be transcendent; to excel. arch.
| 1635 Swan Spec. M. vii. §3 (1643) 344 So one mans knowledge..transcends not seldome above the rest. a 1720 Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. (1753) I. 260, I see no such distinction, nor wherein Man so transcends, except in arrogance. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxiii, ‘Thou art a mad knave’, said the Captain, ‘but thy plan transcends!’ |
† 6. trans. To cause to ascend or rise; to lift, elevate. Obs. rare.
| 1635 Heywood Hierarch. viii. 530 To that People thou a Law hast giv'n, Which from grosse earth transcendeth them to heav'n. |