Discover
transcendental function
mathematics
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.
Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Thank you for your feedback
Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
Also known as: nonalgebraic function
transcendental function, In mathematics, a function not expressible as a finite combination of the algebraic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, raising to a power, and extracting a root. Examples include the functions log x, sin x, cos x, ex and any functions containing them. Such functions are expressible in algebraic terms only as infinite series. In general, the term transcendental means nonalgebraic. See also transcendental number.