preterhuman

[ pree-ter-hyoo-muhn, -yoo-, pre- ]

adjective

1. beyond what is human:

   preterhuman experience.

preterhuman

/ ˌpriːtəˈhjuːmən /

adjective

1. rare.
   beyond what is human

Word History and Origins

Origin of preterhuman¹

First recorded in 1805–15; preter- + human

Example Sentences

The essay from which the above passages are quoted is preceded by references in detail to a considerable number of cases of “the appearance of preterhuman or spiritual beings,” the evidence of which “is as good and definite as it is possible for any evidence of any fact to be.”

From Project Gutenberg

Preterhuman, prē-tėr-hū′man, adj. more than human.

From Project Gutenberg

The preterhuman vividness with which Macaulay sees his object, absolutely casts a shadow upon what lies around; he loses his perspective; and imagination, impelled headlong by the strong consciousness of honesty in purpose, achieves the work of fraud.

From Project Gutenberg

What I venture to press upon you is that it requires no preterhuman force of will in any young man or woman—unless household circumstances are more than usually vexatious and unfavorable—to get at least half an hour out of a solid busy day for good and disinterested reading.

From Project Gutenberg

They began to believe in and worship gods, because they saw in dreams shapes of preterhuman strength and beauty and deemed them immortal; and as they noted the changes of the seasons and all the wonders of the heavens they placed their gods there and feared them when they spoke in the thunder.

From Project Gutenberg