infinite
Etymology

From Middle English infinite, from Old French infinit and Latin infīnītus, from in- + fīnis + the perfect passive participle ending -itus.

Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈɪnfɪnɪt/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈɪnfɪnɪt/, /ˈɪnfənɪt/
Adjective

infinite

  1. Indefinably large, countlessly great; immense. [from 14th c.]
    Synonyms: immeasurable, inestimable, vast
    • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 40, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC ↗:
      The number is so infinite, that verily it would be an easier matter for me to reckon up those that have feared the same.
    • 1735, Henry Brooke, Universal Beauty:
      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 cannot sink.
    • c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, →OCLC ↗, (please specify the page):
      infinite riches in a little room
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:
      which infinite calamity shall cause to human life
  2. Boundless, endless, without end or limits; innumerable. [from 15th c.]
    Synonyms: amaranthine, boundless, endless, interminable, limitless, unbounded, unending, unlimited, Thesaurus:infinite, Thesaurus:eternal
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Psalms 147:5 ↗:
      Great is our Lord, and of great power; his understanding is infinite.
  3. (with plural noun) Infinitely many. [from 15th c.]
    Synonyms: countless, 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.
  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.
Antonyms Related terms Translations Translations Translations
  • French: un nombre infini de
Translations Translations Numeral
  1. Infinitely many.
Noun

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 […]



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