v. 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. 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 nonphysical 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. Cunningham, 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. 7. 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. Ibid. (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.
