# infinity

5 ENTRIES FOUND:

## in·fin·i·ty

noun \in-ˈfi-nə-tē\

: the quality of having no limits or end : the quality of being infinite

: a space, amount, or period of time that has no limits or end

: a very great number or amount

plural in·fin·i·ties

## Full Definition of INFINITY

1
a :  the quality of being infinite
b :  unlimited extent of time, space, or quantity :  boundlessness
2
:  an indefinitely great number or amount <an infinity of stars>
3
a :  the limit of the value of a function or variable when it tends to become numerically larger than any preassigned finite number
b :  a part of a geometric magnitude that lies beyond any part whose distance from a given reference position is finite <do parallel lines ever meet if they extend to infinity>
c :  a transfinite number (as aleph-null)
4
:  a distance so great that the rays of light from a point source at that distance may be regarded as parallel

## Examples of INFINITY

1. The view tapers off into infinity.
2. a series of numbers that continues to infinity
3. The night sky was filled with an infinity of stars.

14th century

## Other Mathematics and Statistics Terms

abscissa, denominator, divisor, equilateral, exponent, hypotenuse, logarithm, oblique, radii, rhomb

## infinity

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

In mathematics, the useful concept of a process with no end. As represented by the symbol , it is often mistakenly thought to be the largest number or a place on the real number line. Instead, it is the idea of a limit, as in the expression x , which suggests that the variable x increases without bound. For example, the function f(x) = 1/x, or the reciprocal of x, tends toward 0 as x approaches infinity as a limit. This process of approaching is crucial to the definition of the derivative and the integral in calculus, as well as to many other concepts of mathematical analysis.