infinitesimal

infinitesimal

See also: infinitésimal

English

Etymology

From Latin infinitesimus, from infinitus (“infinite”) + -esimus, as in centesimus (“hundredth”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪnfɪnɪˈtɛsɪməl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

infinitesimal (comparative more infinitesimal, superlative most infinitesimal)

1. Incalculably, exceedingly, or immeasurably minute; vanishingly small.

   Do you ever get the feeling that you are but an infinitesimal speck, swallowed by the vastness of the universe and beyond?

   • 1913, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Poison Belt‎:

     "You will conceive a bunch of grapes," said he, "which are covered by some infinitesimal but noxious bacillus."

   • 2001, Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, page 221:

     Then you could say that the doorway exploded. But the particular verb doesn't do the action justice. Rather, it shattered into infinitesimal pieces.

2. (mathematics) Of or pertaining to values that approach zero as a limit.
3. (informal) Very small.

Usage notes

• Strictly, this adjective, like infinite, is incomparable, so more infinitesimal and most infinitesimal are proscribed, especially in the mathematical sense. However, these forms do occur in informal usage, where the very small (but measurable) sense is most common.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:tiny

Antonyms

• infinite
• enormous

Translations

very small

Bulgarian: безкрайно малък (bezkrajno malǎk) Czech: nepatrný (cs) Dutch: (jargon) infinitesimaal (nl), (colloquial) oneindig klein Finnish: äärettömän pieni, infinitesimaalinen French: infinitésimal Greek: απειροελάχιστος (el) m (apeiroeláchistos) Hebrew: אַפְסִי‎ m (afsí) Maori: merowhetau Polish: nieskończenie mały m Russian: бесконе́чно ма́лый (beskonéčno mályj) Serbo-Croatian: инфинитезималан Tagalog: napakalinggit

mathematics: pertaining to values that approach zero

Bulgarian: клонящ към нула (klonjašt kǎm nula) Czech: infinitezimální Finnish: infinitesimaalinen Greek: απειροστός (el) m (apeirostós) Polish: nieskończenie mały m Tagalog: napakalinggit

Noun

infinitesimal (plural infinitesimals)

1. (mathematics) A non-zero quantity whose magnitude is smaller than any positive number (by definition it is not a real number).

Antonyms

• infinity

Derived terms

• infinitesimal calculus
• infinitesimally

Translations

A non-zero quantity whose magnitude is smaller than any positive number

Finnish: infinitesimaali French: infinitésimal (fr) Greek: πολλοστημόριο (el) n (pollostimório) Hungarian: infinitezimális Russian: бесконе́чно малая величина́ f (beskonéčno malaja veličiná) Swedish: infinitesimal (sv) Tagalog: napakalinggit

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /infinitesiˈmal/ [ĩɱ.fi.ni.t̪e.siˈmal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: in‧fi‧ni‧te‧si‧mal

Adjective

infinitesimal (plural infinitesimales)

1. infinitesimal

Derived terms

• cálculo infinitesimal m (“infinitesimal calculus”)
• infinitesimalmente

Further reading

• “infinitesimal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014