transcend

Etymology

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

verb

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, →OCLC, PC, scene: Virmire
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