infinity

English

Etymology

From Middle English infinite, from Old French infinité, from Latin īnfīnitās (“unlimitedness”), from negative prefix in- (“not”), + fīnis (“end”), + noun of state suffix -tās. By surface analysis, infinite +‎ -ity.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɪnˈfɪnɪti/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪnɪti

Noun

infinity (countable and uncountable, plural infinities)

  1. (uncountable) Endlessness, unlimitedness, absence of a beginning, end or limits to size.
    concept of infinity
    The desert stretched out toward the horizon as if into infinity.
    • 2012 January, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist‎[1], volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 30 April 2013, page 86:
      Richard Feynman, who shared the 1965 Nobel Prize with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga for this breakthrough, referred to this sleight of hand as “brushing infinity under the rug.”
  3. (countable, mathematics) A number that has an infinite numerical value that cannot be counted.
    Synonym: ∞ (symbol)
    • 2012 January, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist‎[2], volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 30 April 2013, page 86:
      Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the theories.
  4. (countable, topology, mathematical analysis) An idealised point which is said to be approached by sequences of values whose magnitudes increase without bound.
  5. (uncountable) A number which is very large compared to some characteristic number. For example, in optics, an object which is much further away than the focal length of a lens is said to be "at infinity", as the distance of the image from the lens varies very little as the distance increases further.
  6. (countable, uncountable) The symbol ∞.

Usage notes

In mathematics there are several different infinities; see transfinite.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

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See also

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