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 (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -ɪnɪti

Noun

infinity (countable and uncountable, plural infinities)

(uncountable) endlessness, unlimitedness, absence of a beginning, end or limits to size.
(countable, mathematics) A number that has an infinite numerical value that cannot be counted.
- 2012 January 1, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, 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.
(countable, topology, mathematical analysis) An idealised point which is said to be approached by sequences of values whose magnitudes increase without bound.
(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.
(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

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 (ôsīm)
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 c
Tagalog: awanggan
Thai: อนันต์ (th) (à-nan)
Turkish: sonsuzluk (tr)
Uzbek: cheksizlik (uz)
Vietnamese: vô cực (vi)
Welsh: anfeidredd
Westrobothnian: ennlaist f

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 (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)