infinite
Noun · AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (4)
- having no limits or boundaries in time or space or extent or magnitude“the infinite ingenuity of man”“infinite wealth”Opposite finiteSimilar endless, boundless, inexhaustible, datelessSee also immortal
- (of verbs) not having tense, person, or number (as a participle or gerund or infinitive)“infinite verb form”Synonyms: non-finitenonfiniteOpposite finite
- too numerous to be counted“countless hours”“an infinite number of reasons”“innumerable difficulties”“the multitudinous seas”“myriad stars”Synonyms: countlessinnumerableinnumerousmultitudinousmyriadnumberlessuncountedunnumberableunnumberedunnumerableOpposite calculableSimilar incalculable
- total and all-embracing“God's infinite wisdom”Opposite comparativeSimilar absolute
Noun (1)
- the unlimited expanse in which everything is located“they tested his ability to locate objects in space”“the boundless regions of the infinite”Synonyms: spaceType of attributeKinds outer space, mathematical space, phase space, absolute spaceParts location, aerospace
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Adjective boundless, endless
- Spanish
- infinito
- French
- infini
- German
- unendlich
- Italian
- infinito
- Portuguese
- infinito
- Turkish
- sonsuz
- Russian
- бесконе́чный beskonéčnyj
- Chinese
- 无限 wúxiàn
- Dutch
- oneindig
- Polish
- nieskończony
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L. infinitus: cf. F. infini. See In- not, and Finite.
1. Unlimited or boundless, in time or space; as, infinite duration or distance.
Whatever is finite, as finite, will admit of no comparative relation with infinity; for whatever is less than infinite is still infinitely distant from infinity; and lower than infinite distance the lowest or least can not sink.— Henry Brooke
2. Without limit in power, capacity, knowledge, or excellence; boundless; immeasurably or inconceivably great; perfect; as, the infinite wisdom and goodness of God; — opposed to finite.
Great is our Lord, and of great power; his understanding is infinite.— Ps. cxlvii. 5.
O God, how infinite thou art!— Isaac Watts
3. Indefinitely large or extensive; great; vast; immense; gigantic; prodigious.
Infinite riches in a little room.— Christopher Marlowe
Which infinite calamity shall cause To human life.— John Milton
4. Mathematics Greater than any assignable quantity of the same kind; — said of certain quantities.
5. Music Capable of endless repetition; — said of certain forms of the canon, called also perpetual fugues, so constructed that their ends lead to their beginnings, and the performance may be incessantly repeated. John Weeks Moore
Synonyms: Boundless; immeasurable; illimitable; interminable; limitless; unlimited; endless; eternal.
1. That which is infinite; boundless space or duration; infinity; boundlessness.
Not till the weight is heaved from off the air, and the thunders roll down the horizon, will the serene light of God flow upon us, and the blue infinite embrace us again.— James Martineau
2. Mathematics An infinite quantity or magnitude.
3. An infinity; an incalculable or very great number.
Glittering chains, embroidered richly o'er With infinite of pearls and finest gold.— Sir Richard Fanshawe
4. The Infinite Being; God; the Almighty.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
<mathematics> 1. Bigger than any natural number. There are various formal set definitions in set theory: a set X is infinite if
(i) There is a bijection between X and a proper subset of X.
(ii) There is an injection from the set N of natural numbers to X.
(iii) There is an injection from each natural number n to X.
These definitions are not necessarily equivalent unless we accept the Axiom of Choice.
2.The length of a line extended indefinitely.
See also infinite loop, infinite set. [Jargon File]
(1995-03-29)
The Jargon File
[common] Consisting of a large number of objects; extreme. Used very loosely as in: “This program produces infinite garbage.” “He is an infinite loser.” The word most likely to follow infinite, though, is hair. (It has been pointed out that fractals are an excellent example of infinite hair.) These uses are abuses of the word's mathematical meaning. The term semi-infinite, denoting an immoderately large amount of some resource, is also heard. “This compiler is taking a semi-infinite amount of time to optimize my program.” See also semi.