- Infinity
- Infinity In*fin"i*ty, n.; pl. {Infinities}. [L. infinitas;
pref. in- not + finis boundary, limit, end: cf. F.
infinit['e]. See {Finite}.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Unlimited extent of time, space, or quantity; eternity;
boundlessness; immensity. --Sir T. More.
[1913 Webster]
There can not be more infinities than one; for one of them would limit the other. --Sir W. Raleigh. [1913 Webster]
2. Unlimited capacity, energy, excellence, or knowledge; as, the infinity of God and his perfections. --Hooker. [1913 Webster]
3. Endless or indefinite number; great multitude; as an infinity of beauties. --Broome. [1913 Webster]
4. (Math.) A quantity greater than any assignable quantity of the same kind. [1913 Webster]
Note: Mathematically considered, infinity is always a limit of a variable quantity, resulting from a particular supposition made upon the varying element which enters it. --Davies & Peck (Math. Dict.). [1913 Webster]
5. (Geom.) That part of a line, or of a plane, or of space, which is infinitely distant. In modern geometry, parallel lines or planes are sometimes treated as lines or planes meeting at infinity. [1913 Webster]
{Circle at infinity}, an imaginary circle at infinity, through which, in geometry of three dimensions, every sphere is imagined to pass.
{Circular points at infinity}. See under {Circular}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
