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infinite

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: infinité

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English infinite, from Old French infinit and its etymon Latin īnfīnītus, from in- (“not”) + fīnis (“end”) + the perfect passive participle ending -ītus.[1][2][3] By surface analysis, in- +‎ finite. Doublet of infinito. Displaced native Old English unġeendodlīċ.

Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɪnfɪnɪt/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɪnfɪnɪt/, /ˈɪnfənɪt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: in‧fi‧nite

Adjective

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infinite (comparative more infinite, superlative most infinite)

  1. Indefinably large, countlessly great; immense. [from 14th c.]
    Synonyms: immeasurable, inestimable, vast
  2. Boundless, endless, without end or limits; innumerable. [from 15th c.]
    Synonyms: amaranthine, boundless, endless, interminable, limitless, unbounded, unending, unlimited; see also Thesaurus:infinite, Thesaurus:eternal
  3. (with plural noun) Infinitely many. [from 15th c.]
    Synonyms: countless; see also Thesaurus:innumerable
    • 2012, Helen Donelan, Karen Kear, Magnus Ramage, Online Communication and Collaboration: A Reader:
      Huxley's theory says that if you provide infinite monkeys with infinite typewriters, some monkey somewhere will eventually create a masterpiece – a play by Shakespeare, a Platonic dialogue, or an economic treatise by Adam Smith.
  4. (mathematics) Greater than any positive quantity or magnitude; limitless. [from 17th c.]
  5. (set theory, of a set) Having infinitely many elements.
    • 2009, Brandon C. Look, “Symbolic Logic II, Lecture 2: Set Theory”, in www.uky.edu/~look‎[1], archived from the original on 19 June 2018:
      For any infinite set, there is a 1-1 correspondence between it and at least one of its proper subsets. For example, there is a 1-1 correspondence between the set of natural numbers and the set of squares of natural numbers, which is a proper subset of the set of natural numbers.
  6. (grammar) Not limited by person or number. [from 19th c.]
  7. (music) Capable of endless repetition; said of certain forms of the canon, also called perpetual fugues, constructed so that their ends lead to their beginnings.[4]

Usage notes

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Although the term is incomparable in the precise sense, it can be comparable both in mathematics and set theory to compare different degrees of infinity, and informally to denote yet a larger thing.

Poets (and particularly hymn-writers before the 20th century) would commonly rhyme the word as though pronounced [-ɑɪnɑɪt] and church congregations still on occasion adopt that pronunciation.

Antonyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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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

Numeral

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infinite

  1. Infinitely many.

Noun

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infinite (plural infinites)

  1. Something that is infinite in nature.
    • 1827–1879 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “Part I”, in The Lover’s Tale, London: C[harles] Kegan Paul & Co., […], published 1879, →OCLC, pages 34–35:
      Sooner Earth / Might go round Heaven, and the strait girth of Time / Inswathe the fulness of Eternity, / Than language grasp the infinite of Love.
    • 2004, Teun Koetsier, Luc Bergmans, Mathematics and the Divine: A Historical Study, page 449:
      Cautiously, Hobbes avoided asserting the equality of these infinites, and explicitly characterized the relation between them as non-inequality.
  2. (video games) A combo that can be used repeatedly without interruption.
    • 2007, Adam Deats, Joe Epstein, Virtua Fighter 5, page 14:
      […] prevents overpowered combos and infinites […]

References

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  1. ^ “infī̆nī̆t(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “infinite, adj., adv., and n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  3. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “infinite (adj.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  4. ^ 1852, John Weeks Moore, Complete Encyclopædia of Music

Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /in.fiˈni.te/
  • Rhymes: -ite
  • Hyphenation: in‧fi‧nì‧te

Adjective

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infinite

  1. feminine plural of infinito

Latin

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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īnfīnīte

  1. vocative masculine singular of īnfīnītus

References

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  • “infinite”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “infinite”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • infinite in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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