infinite English · revision 7161

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1380|origins=la infinitus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɪnfɪnɪt/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɪnfɪnɪt/, /ˈɪnfənɪt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English infinit, [[bor|fro|infinit|t=endless, boundless]] and directly [[bor|la|infinitus|t=unbounded, unlimited, countless]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|in-|t=not]] and [[m|la|finitus|t=bounded, limited]] (see [[finite]]).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Eternal, limitless, and extremely great in number: about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius;^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Hoad 1986) In a loose sense, exceedingly great, it is from about 1385.^(OED 1989) The noun, that which is infinite, is from the 1580s.^(Etymonline) [[infinitesimal|alt=Infinitesimal]] is an 18th-century formation.^(Hoad 1986) In mathematics, greater than any assignable quantity is a technical sense.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1380 – limitless.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1385 – very great.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1413 – having no end.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1580s – the infinite (noun).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Limitless or endless in space, extent or size.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Very great in amount or degree: ''infinite patience''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' Greater than any assignable quantity.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(the Infinite)'' God.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[infinitely]]

+ * [[infiniteness]]

+ * [[infinitize]]

+ * [[noninfinite]]

+ * [[superinfinite]]

+ * [[semi-infinite]]

+ * [[infinitesimal]]

+ * [[infinitude]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[infinitive]]

+ * [[infinity]]

+ * [[finite]]

+ * [[finish]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}