infinity

English

Etymology

From Middle English infinite, from Old French infinité, from Latin infinitas (“unlimitedness”), from negative prefix in- (“not”), + finis (“end”), + noun of state suffix -tas.

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.
2. (countable, mathematics) A number that has an infinite numerical value that cannot be counted.
   • 2012 January, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist‎^[1], 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.

3. (countable, topology, mathematical analysis) An idealised point which is said to be approached by sequences of values whose magnitudes increase without bound.
4. (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.
5. (countable, uncountable) The symbol ∞.

Usage notes

In mathematics there are several different infinities; see transfinite.

Synonyms

• (absence of a beginning, end or limits to size): See also Thesaurus:infinity

Antonyms

• finity

Derived terms

• axiom of infinity
• directed infinity
• infinity box
• infinity-edge pool
• infinity pool
• infinity scarf
• infinity shot
• infinity sign
• infinity symbol
• infinity transmitter
• null infinity
• point at infinity
• zero one infinity rule

 

Related terms

• finish
• finite
• infinite
• infinitude
• infinitesimal
• infinitieth

Translations

endlessness, unlimitedness, absence of end or limit

• Afrikaans: oneindigheid
• Albanian: pafundësi (sq) f
• Armenian: անսահմանություն (hy) (ansahmanutʿyun)
• Assamese: অসীম (oxim)
• Basque: infinitu
• Bengali: অসীম (bn) (ośim)
• Bulgarian: безкрайност (bg) f (bezkrajnost)
• Catalan: infinitat f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無限／无限 (zh) (wúxiàn)

• Czech: nekonečno n
• Danish: uendelighed
• Dutch: oneindigheid (nl)
• Estonian: lõpmatus
• Finnish: äärettömyys (fi), loputtomuus (fi), rajattomuus (fi)
• French: infinité (fr) f
• Georgian: უსასრულობა (usasruloba)
• German: Unendlichkeit (de) f
• Greek: ^{(please verify)} αιωνιότητα (el) (aioniótita)
• Hebrew: אֵינְסוֹף (he) m (einsóf)
• Hindi: अनंत (hi) (anant)
• Hungarian: végtelenség (hu)
• Icelandic: óendanleiki (is)
• Ilocano: awan inggana
• Indonesian: tak hingga, ananta (id)
• Irish: éigríoch
• Japanese: 無限 (ja) (むげん, mugen)
• Kannada: ಅನಂತ (kn) (ananta)
• Korean: 무한(無限) (ko) (muhan)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: bêdawî (ku)

• Latin: infīnitās f
• Latvian: bezgalība
• Lithuanian: begalybė
• Malagasy: tsiefa
• Malay: ketidakterhinggaan, infiniti
• Malayalam: അനന്തത (ml) (anantata)
• Manx: neuyerinaght f
• Marathi: अनंत (ananta)
• Mongolian: хязгааргүй (mn) (xjazgaargüj)
• Northern Sami: agálašvuohta
• Old English: unġeendodlīcnes f
• Polish: nieskończoność (pl) f, bezbrzeże n (dated)
• Portuguese: infinito (pt) m, infinidade (pt) f
• Romanian: infinitate (ro) f
• Russian: бесконе́чность (ru) f (beskonéčnostʹ), безграни́чность (ru) f (bezgraníčnostʹ)
• Sanskrit: अदिति (sa) f (aditi)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бесконачност f, бескрајност f

  Roman: beskonačnost (sh) f, beskrajnost (sh) f

• Spanish: infinidad (es) f
• Swedish: oändlighet (sv) c, ändlöshet (sv) c
• Tagalog: awanggan
• Thai: อนันต์ (th) (à-nan)
• Turkish: sonsuzluk (tr)
• Uzbek: cheksizlik (uz)
• Vietnamese: vô cực (vi)
• Welsh: anfeidredd

a number that has an infinite, uncountable numerical value

• Bulgarian: безкрайност (bg) f (bezkrajnost)
• Catalan: infinitat f
• Finnish: ääretön (fi)
• French: infinité (fr) f
• Greek: άπειρο (el) n (ápeiro)
• Hungarian: végtelen (hu)
• Irish: éigríoch f
• Japanese: 無限大 (ja) (むげんだい, mugendai)
• Malay: ketidakterhinggaan, infiniti
• Portuguese: infinito (pt) m
• Romanian: infinit (ro) n
• Russian: бесконе́чность (ru) f (beskonéčnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: bȅskonačnōst (sh) f
• Spanish: infinito (es) m
• Swedish: oändlighet (sv) c
• Tagalog: awanggan
• Turkish: sonsuz (tr)

a number which is very large compared to some characteristic number

• Finnish: ääretön (fi)
• French: infini (fr) m
• Portuguese: infinito (pt) m
• Romanian: infinit (ro) n, nesfârșit (ro) n (de mare)
• Russian: бесконе́чность (ru) f (beskonéčnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: bȅskonačnōst (sh) f
• Spanish: infinidad (es) f
• Swedish: oändlighet (sv) c
• Turkish: sonsuz (tr)

the symbol ∞

• Bulgarian: безкрайност (bg) f (bezkrajnost)
• Finnish: ääretön (fi)
• French: infini (fr) m
• German: Unendlichkeit (de) f
• Malay: ketidakterhinggaan, infiniti
• Polish: nieskończoność (pl) f (slang), symbol nieskończoności m, lemniskata f
• Portuguese: infinito (pt) m
• Romanian: infinit (ro)
• Russian: бесконе́чность (ru) f (beskonéčnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: bȅskonačnōst (sh) f
• Spanish: infinito (es) m
• Swedish: oändlighetstecken n
• Tagalog: awanggan
• Turkish: sonsuz (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} infinito (it), ^{(please verify)} infinità (it)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} infinitas f
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} అనంతం (te) (anantaṁ)

See also

• eternal
• eternity
• transfinite