| 释义 |
▪ I. finite, a. and n.|ˈfaɪnaɪt|
Also 5–6 fynyte.
[ad. L. fīnīt-us, pa. pple. of fīnīre to put an end to, bound, limit, f. fīnis end, limit.]
A. adj.
†1. Fixed, determined, definite. Obs.
1493Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 79 There was made a fynyte loveday betwene the kyng & Thomas. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1191 Giving us assurance of that which is finite and determinate. 1680H. More Apocal. Apoc. 334 A finite vast number is here put for an indefinite numerous multitude.
2. a. Having bounds, ends, or limits; bounded, limited; opposed to infinite.
1587Golding De Mornay iv. 42 For if any of them [perfections] be finite, then he is not infinite. 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. iii. 11 Whatsoever we imagine, is Finite. 1692Bentley Serm. Folly of Atheism vi. 21 That supposed Infinite Duration will..be limited at two Extremes..and consequently must needs be Finite. 1854Moseley Astron. iii. (ed. 4) 11 The surface of the earth is finite in every direction.
b. Having an existence subject to limitations and conditions.
1633G. Herbert Temple, Artillerie iv, I am but finite, yet thine infinitely. 1712Addison Spect. No. 421 ⁋7 The whole Heaven or Hell of any finite Being. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 67 Of eternity and self-existence what other likeness is possible in a finite being, but immortality and moral self-determination? 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 416 Of the absolute goodness of any finite nature we can form no conception.
3. Math. Of a line: Terminated. Of a quantity, number, distance: Limited, neither infinite nor infinitesimal. Of a group: Containing a limited number of substitutions. Of a solution: Resulting in a finite quantity. finite difference: a difference between two quantities that is finite; spec., any of the differences between the successive values of a function when its independent variable takes on the values of an arithmetical progression. finite points: such as are not at an infinite distance apart. finite series (see quot. c 1865). finite state: used attrib. in communication theory of any system limited to a finite number of alternative states, or of a type that, even if it contains an infinite number of parts, is producible by a generative device so limited.
1570Billingsley Euclid i. Post. ii. 6 To produce a right line finite, straight forth continually. 1660Barrow Euclid i. i, Upon a finite right line..to describe an equilateral triangle. 1807Finite difference [see difference n. 2]. 1840Lardner Geom. 276 The distance V F, remains finite. 1860G. Boole Calculus of Finite Differences viii. 137 It is not true that every result of the Calculus of Finite Differences merges when the increments are indefinitely diminished into a result of the Differential Calculus. c1865Circ. Sc. I. 573/1 A series is called a finite series when it has an assignable last term. 1885C. Leudesdorf Cremona's Proj. Geom. 139 Two other finite points on the curve. Ibid. 265 The finite segment FF′ is cut or not by the tangents according as the conic is a hyperbola or an ellipse. 1885Watson & Burbury Math. Th. Electr. & Magn. I. 38 It may be proved that dkPi / dµk is the only finite integral solution in µ of the equation. 1893A. R. Forsyth Th. Functions 587 These finite discontinuous groups are of importance on the theory of polyhedral functions. 1910Encycl. Brit. XIV. 545/1 The theorem [sc. Taylor's theorem] was first given by Brook Taylor in his Methodus Incrementorum (1717) as a corollary to a theorem concerning finite differences. 1949Shannon & Weaver Math. Theory of Communication 27 The output of a finite state transducer driven by a finite state statistical source is a finite state statistical source. 1957N. Chomsky Syntactic Structures iii. 18 Suppose that we have a machine that can be in any one of a finite number of different internal states... Any language that can be produced by a machine of this sort we call a finite state language; and we can call the machine itself a finite state grammar. 1957L. Fox Two-point Boundary Probl. ii. 21 The rigorous theory of finite differences attaches a remainder term to every finite-difference formula and sometimes..the formula diverges and gives no useful result. 1969Listener 10 July 44/1 Finite-state rules are the simplest kind of grammar rule; they can be as simple as ‘after ‘the’ produce any noun at all’. 1971Mathematical Rev. Feb. 278/1 The authors treat some elementary aspects of the theory of finite differences.
4. Gram. Of a verb: Limited by number and person; not in the infinitive mood.
1795L. Murray Gram. Syntax 86 A simple sentence has in it but one subject, and one finite verb. 1798Ibid. (ed. 4) iii. 113 note, Finite verbs are those to which number and person appertain.
5. Music. (See quot.)
1869Ouseley Counterp. xv. 105 If the canon is concluded by a coda, it is called Finite.
¶ App. misused for infinite.
a1400Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 93 That it may plese his fynyte deyte Knowleche in this to sendyn us.
B. quasi-n.
1. a. The adj. used absolutely.
1687Dryden Hind & P. i. 105 But how can finite grasp Infinity? 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xv. §12 Finite of any Magnitude, holds not any proportion to infinite. 1825Coleridge Aids Refl. (1836) 155 Reasoning from finite to finite, on a basis of truth..will always lead to truth. 1847Emerson Poems, Threnody Wks. (Bohn) I. 492 My servant Death, with solving rite, Pours finite into infinite.
b. the finite: that which is finite.
1845Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. in Encycl. Metrop. II. 575/1 The finite and the infinite are both alike thoughts of our own. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 9 To us, the notion of infinity is subsequent rather than prior to the finite.
2. A finite thing; a finite being: see A. 2.
a1619M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. x. §4 (1622) 309 All termes, and all indeterminations, all finites and all infinites. 1648Boyle Seraph. Love xxvi. (1700) 154 It being impossible for an Aggregate of Finites to comprehend..one Infinite. 1846[see finited ppl. a.].
3. Gram. A finite verb or verb-form.
1924H. E. Palmer Gram. Spoken Eng. ii. 91 A Finite is that part of a sentence which predicates, exclusive however of complements, objects or modifiers. 1963F. T. Visser Hist. Syntax I. iv. 497 The verbs shall, can, may..called anomalous finites or auxiliary verbs. 1965Language XLI. 208 If we consider the range of ‘finites’ that can operate at X in the sequence He X (to) come every day.
Add:[A.] [3.] finite automaton, a finite-state automaton.
1956S. C. Kleene in Shannon & McCarthy Automata Stud. 4 In showing that each regular event is representable in the state of a finite automaton, the automaton we use is a McCullough–Pitts nerve net. Thus their neurons are one example of a kind of ‘universal elements’ for finite automata. 1966Math. Rev. Jan. 10/1 Markov's result entails the unsolvability of certain mass problems of finite-automata theory. 1985Sci. Amer. Nov. 16/1 Each flib is equipped with the simplest decision-making apparatus possible. This is the biological equivalent of what computer scientists call a finite automaton.
▪ II. finite, v.|ˈfaɪnaɪt|
[f. prec.; or f. ppl. stem of L. fīnīre.]
trans. To make finite; to subject to limitations.
1628T. Spencer Logick 47 The matter doth finite, and contract the amplitude of the forme. 1847Bushnell Chr. Nurt. ii. v. (1861) 318 The Lord to be is there, there to personate and finite himself. 1867Eng. Leader 20 Apr. 224 There are two sides—a divine side and a human side.. the latter being finited, attempered, and dimmed.
Hence ˈfinited ppl. a.
1846Clissold tr. Swedenborg's Principia i. iii. 81 In relation to things much finited and compounded, this finite is as it were nothing;..nevertheless it is a something and a finited ens. 1868Contemp. Rev. VIII. 617 To find God finited in Nature. 1884Gosp. Divine Humanity iii. 60 Man in his finited state is dust of the ground. |