asymptote
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See also: Asymptote
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]circa 1650, from Ancient Greek ἀσύμπτωτη (asúmptōtē), the feminine of Apollonius Pergaeus' (circa 200 BC) Ancient Greek adjective ἀσύμπτωτος (asúmptōtos, “not falling together”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + συν- (sun-, “together”) + πτωτός (ptōtós, “fallen”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈæsɪmptoʊ̯t/, /ˈæsɪmtoʊ̯t/, /ˈeɪ̯sɪmtoʊ̯t/, /ˈæsɪmtɒt/
Noun
[edit]asymptote (plural asymptotes)
- (mathematical analysis) A straight line which a curve approaches arbitrarily closely as it goes to infinity. The limit of the curve; its tangent "at infinity".
- (by extension, figuratively) Anything which comes near to but never meets something else.
- 1860, Frederic William Farrar, An Essay on the Origin of Language, page 117:
- Language, in relation to thought, must ever be regarded as an asymptote.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]a straight line which a curve approaches arbitrarily closely
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Verb
[edit]asymptote (third-person singular simple present asymptotes, present participle asymptoting, simple past and past participle asymptoted)
- (mathematical analysis) To approach, but never quite touch, a straight line, as something goes to infinity.
- 2006: Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Perimeter of Ignorance[1]
- As you become more scientific, yes, the religiosity drops off, but it asymptotes.
- 2006: Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Perimeter of Ignorance[1]
References
[edit]French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀσύμπτωτος (asúmptōtos).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]asymptote f (plural asymptotes)
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “asymptote”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Mathematical analysis
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- en:Shapes
- en:Curves
- en:Functions
- en:Infinity
- French terms borrowed from Ancient Greek
- French terms derived from Ancient Greek
- French 3-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns
- fr:Mathematical analysis