Transcendence
Etymology
From Latin “transcendere” (to climb over, surmount), from “trans-” (across, beyond) plus “scandere” (to climb) — the same climbing root behind “ascend” and “descend.” Theology uses it for the divine as beyond and independent of the world; philosophy and everyday speech use it for rising above limits or ordinary experience. The image throughout is of stepping over a boundary.
noun · /tran-SEN-dunss/
The quality of being beyond or above the ordinary world, especially of the divine existing outside it.
What it names
The "beyond" half of how traditions locate the sacred — God or the ultimate as separate from and surpassing creation.
Example
The music reached for a kind of transcendence, as if trying to climb clear out of the room and the century.
Related idea
Transcendence places the divine beyond the world; immanence places it within — most traditions hold the two in tension rather than choosing one.