Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Infinity?

\In*fin"i*ty\, n.; pl. {Infinities}. [L. infinitas; pref. in- not + finis boundary, limit, end: cf. F. infinit['e]. See {Finite}.] 1. Unlimited extent of time, space, or quantity; eternity; boundlessness; immensity. --Sir T. More. There can not be more infinities than one; for one of them would limit the other. --Sir W. Raleigh. 2. Unlimited capacity, energy, excellence, or knowledge; as, the infinity of God and his perfections. --Hooker. 3. Endless or indefinite number; great multitude; as an infinity of beauties. --Broome. 4. (Math.) A quantity greater than any assignable quantity of the same kind. 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.). 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. {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}.