From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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.
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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.
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4. (Math.) A quantity greater than any assignable quantity of
the same kind.
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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]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
infinity
n 1: time without end [syn: {eternity}, {infinity}]
From The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003) [jargon]:
infinity
n.
1. The largest value that can be represented in a particular type of
variable (register, memory location, data type, whatever).
2. minus infinity: The smallest such value, not necessarily or even usually
the simple negation of plus infinity. In N-bit twos-complement arithmetic,
infinity is 2^N-1 - 1 but minus infinity is - (2^N-1), not -(2^N-1 - 1).
Note also that this is different from time T equals minus infinity, which
is closer to a mathematician's usage of infinity.
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