finite English · revision 39880

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1410|origins=la fīnis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈfaɪ.naɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈfaɪ.naɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|fīnītus|t=limited, bounded, finished]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD 2024)^(Klein 1966) the past participle of [[m|la|fīniō|t=to limit, set bounds; to end]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|fīnis|t=end, limit]].^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024) Middle English had it as [[m|enm|finit]].^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024) The same Latin verb is the source of [[finish]], and the noun of [[final]] and [[fine]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Dictionary.com 2016)^(Partridge 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Limited in space or time: 1410 according to Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1995) the early 15th century according to Etymonline and Merriam-Webster.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The OED's earliest record, from about 1400, uses the word in error for [[infinite]],^(OED 2026) and its first quotation for the obsolete sense "fixed, definite" is from 1493.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The core sense, having bounds or limits as opposed to infinite, is quoted in the OED from 1587,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) and Johnson (1755) glossed it as limited, bounded, terminated.^(Johnson 1755) Mathematicians used it from 1570, in Billingsley's translation of Euclid, for a quantity that is neither infinite nor infinitesimal.^(OED 2026) In theology and philosophy it came to describe beings whose existence is subject to limits, as in George Herbert (1633),^(OED 2026) and ''the finite'' became a noun for all that is finite by about 1832.^(OED 2026) In grammar, a ''finite'' verb is one limited by person and number, as against an infinitive: this use dates from 1795, in Lindley Murray's ''English Grammar'',^(OED 2026) and ''finite'' alone was used as a noun for such a verb by 1924.^(OED 2026) A verb ''finite'', to make finite, is recorded from 1628 but is rare.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1410 – limited in space or time (Barnhart).^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1493 – fixed, definite (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1570 – (mathematics) neither infinite nor infinitesimal.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1587 – having limits; opposed to infinite.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1628 – the rare verb, to make finite.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1633 – of a being whose existence is limited.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1795 – (grammar) of a verb, limited by person and number.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1924 – (grammar) the noun, a finite verb.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having [[limit]]s or bounds; not [[infinite]]: ''Earth's supply of fresh water is finite.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' Of a number or set: able to be [[count]]ed to an end; neither infinite nor [[infinitesimal]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(grammar)'' Of a [[verb]] form: showing [[tense]], [[person]] and [[number]], as opposed to an [[infinitive]] or [[participle]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A finite thing or being.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) Also ''the finite'': whatever is finite.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[finitely]]

+ * [[finiteness]]

+ * [[finite-dimensional]]

+ * [[nonfinite]]

+ * [[superfinite]]

+ * [[unfinite]]

+ * [[finite difference]]

+ * [[finite clause]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[finis]]

+ * [[finitude]]

+ * [[finite verb]]

+ * [[infinite]]

+ * [[infinitude]]

+ * [[transfinite]]

+ * [[finish]]

+ * [[final]]

+ * [[fine]]

+ * [[define]]

+ * [[confine]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}