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infinite

Etymology and origin of the English word infinite

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1380
Borrowed from
Old French infinit
Ultimate origin
Latin (infinitus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin infinitus
English infinite

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɪnfɪnɪt/ (UK); /ˈɪnfɪnɪt/, /ˈɪnfənɪt/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English infinit, borrowed from Old French infinit (“endless, boundless”) and directly borrowed from Latin infinitus (“unbounded, unlimited, countless”),[2][3][4] from in- (“not”) and finitus (“bounded, limited”) (see finite).[3][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Eternal, limitless, and extremely great in number: about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius;[2] the late 14th century in Etymonline.[3]

Semantic evolution

Hoad dates the sense unlimited in number from the 14th century, now archaic, and having no limit or end from the 15th century.[6] In a loose sense, exceedingly great, it is from about 1385.[7] The noun, that which is infinite, is from the 1580s.[3] Infinitesimal is an 18th-century formation.[6] In mathematics, greater than any assignable quantity is a technical sense.[8][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – limitless.[2]
  • c. 1385 – very great.[7]
  • 1413 – having no end.[7]
  • 1580s – the infinite (noun).[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Limitless or endless in space, extent or size.
  2. Very great in amount or degree: infinite patience.
  3. (mathematics) Greater than any assignable quantity.

Noun

  1. (the Infinite) God.

Word family

  • infinitely
  • infiniteness
  • infinitize
  • noninfinite
  • superinfinite
  • semi-infinite
  • infinitesimal
  • infinitude
  • infinitive
  • infinity
  • finite
  • finish

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Infinite.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/infinite. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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