infinityn.
/ɪnˈfɪnɪti/ 1. The quality or attribute of being infinite or having no limit; boundlessness, illimitableness (esp. as an attribute of Deity).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > infiniteness > [noun]
endlessness1340
everbleving1340
infinityc1374
everlastingnessa1382
immensityc1450
infiniteness1534
infinition?1605
illimitation1610
immenseness1610
incomprehensibleness1611
incircumscriptibleness1615
boundlessnessa1619
indefinity1623
unlimitedness1631
unboundedness1640
infinitude1641
incomprehensibility1650
incircumscription1651
ever-beingness1674
extendlessnessa1676
indefinitudea1676
uncircumscribedness1679
interminability1681
interminableness1682
illimitedness1703
limitlessness1839
illimitability1841
illimitableness1845
uncircumscription1852
unconditionedness1854
unbeginningness1862
beginninglessness1865
ever-duringness1868
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > nature or attributes of God > [noun] > eternity
eternityc1374
everlastingtya1382
everlastingnessa1425
infinity1532
infiniteness1534
eternality1548
ayness1587
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Cambr.) v. pr. vi. 134 Al thogh þat the lyf of it be strechched with infinite of tyme, yit algates nis it no swych thing.
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 14 In þe infenite of gode meruaile and worschip, with-oute begynyng all-myghti clerely scheuys.
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 636/1 One whose eternity passeth al time, and whose infinity passeth all nombre, that is almightye God himselfe.
1647 A. Cowley Constant in Mistress iii What, alas can be Added to that which hath Infinity Both in Extent and Quality?
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xxiii. 148 It is Infinity, which, joined to our Ideas of Existence, Power, Knowledge, &c. makes that complex Idea, whereby we represent to our selves the best we can, the supreme Being.
a1774 O. Goldsmith Surv. Exper. Philos. (1776) II. 94 Wherever the doctrines of infinity enter into philosophy, knowledge ceases, and we talk at random.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 9 Of that positive infinity, or infinite reality, which we attribute to God, he had no conception.
2. Something that is infinite; infinite extent, amount, duration, etc.; a boundless space or expanse; an endless or unlimited time. (In quot. 1682 the Infinite Being, the Deity.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > infiniteness > [noun] > infinity or that which is infinite
infinity1377
infinite1587
infinitive1595
incomprehensibility1610
immensitya1631
infinitude1667
infinitum1682
unmeasured1812
endlessness1820
unconditioned1829
illimitable1884
out and out1890
boundless1909
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xiii. 127–8 One pieres þe plough~man..seith þat dowel and dobet aren two infinites, Whiche infinites, with a feith fynden oute dobest, Which shal saue mannes soule.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. i. i. §3. 3 There cannot be more infinites then one; for one of them would limit the other.
1682 J. Dryden Religio Laici 6 Dar'st thou, poor Worm, offend Infinity?
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. i. 12 Any power, acting for a time short of infinity.
1843 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters I. 225 The greatest number is no nearer infinity than the least, if it be definite number.
1856 D. Masson Ess. Biogr. & Crit. iii. 62 They did not tenant all space, but only that upper and illuminated part of infinity called Heaven.
1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. ix. 297 For all his sweetness and serenity, however, man's point of life ‘between two infinities’ (of that expression Marcus Aurelius is the real owner) was to him anything but a Happy Island.
3.
a. In hyperbolical use (from 1, 2): Immensity, vastness; an indefinitely great amount or number, an exceeding multitude, ‘no end’ (of). [A frequent sense in Old French.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [noun] > a large number or multitude
sandc825
thousandc1000
un-i-rimeOE
legiona1325
fernc1325
multitudec1350
hundred1362
abundancec1384
quantityc1390
sight1390
felec1394
manyheada1400
lastc1405
sortc1475
infinityc1480
multiplie1488
numbers1488
power1489
many1525
flock1535
heapa1547
multitudine1547
sort1548
myriads1555
myriads1559
infinite1563
tot-quot1565
dickera1586
multiplea1595
troop1596
multitudes1598
myriad1611
sea-sands1656
plurality1657
a vast many1695
dozen1734
a good few1756
nation1762
vast1793
a wheen (of)1814
swad1828
lot1833
tribe1833
slew1839
such a many1841
right smart1842
a million and one1856
horde1860
a good several1865
sheaf1865
a (bad, good, etc.) sortc1869
immense1872
dunnamuch1875
telephone number1880
umpty1905
dunnamany1906
skit1913
umpteen1919
zillion1922
gang1928
scrillion1935
jillion1942
900 number1977
gazillion1978
fuckload1984
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > infinity of amount > an infinite amount
infinityc1480
infinite1563
infinitive1595
no end1623
infinitude1667
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > infinity of amount
infiniteness1579
infinity1581
infinitude1641
c1480 (a1400) St. George 321 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 185 Þe king [þane] ane infinite of gret tresore gert offerit be to george.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxvi. 133 Whether all children be to be set to schoole or no, without repressing the infinitie of multitude.
1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. J. L. G. de Balzac Lett. 168 By meanes of an infinity of rules and maximes.
1681 H. Neville Plato Redivivus 102 He gives daily charitable audience to an Infinity of poor people.
1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful iii. §4. 79 An infinity of observations of this kind [are] to be found in the writings, and conversations of many.
1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues II. 339 When little things are elaborated with an infinity of pains.
b. to infinity (= Latin ad or in infinitum): to an ‘infinite’ extent, ‘endlessly’, without limit.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > infiniteness > to infinity [phrase]
to infinitea1631
to infinity1640
1640 tr. G. S. du Verdier Love & Armes Greeke Princes i. 27 Loving him to infinity, I almost died at the first news of his sicknes.
1812 Burke's Speech Act of Uniformity 1772 in Wks. V. 328 You may delight yourselves in varying to infinity the fashion of them.
1825 J. R. McCulloch Princ. Polit. Econ. ii. iv. 189 The multiplication of such commodities to infinity, could never occasion a glut.
4.
a. Mathematics. Infinite quantity (see infinite adj. 4c): denoted by the symbol ∞. Also, an infinite number (of something; quot. 1831).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > infinity
endlessa1398
infinitude1667
infinite1671
infinitum1682
infinity1693
1693 E. Halley in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 16 556 The whole..is the summ of the beginning and ceasing Infinity, or as I may say of Infinity a parte ante and a parte post, which is analogous to Eternity in time or Duration.
1831 D. Brewster Life I. Newton xii. 194 The curve which should cut at right angles an infinity of curves of a given nature.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xx. 496 To say..that a hundred was five times infinity.
1859 J. O. Halliwell Introd. Evid. Christianity 14 In modern science, there is a symbol used to express infinity.
1880 Encycl. Brit. XI. 138 In this treatise [Nova Stereometria Doliorum, 1615] he [Kepler] introduced for the first time the name and notion of ‘infinity’ into the language of geometry.
b. Geometry. Infinite distance, or that portion or region of space which is infinitely distant: usually in at infinity. In Photography also used of any distance, or the range of distances, at which an object is effectively in focus when the lens is set for the greatest possible distance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > [noun] > infinite distance
infinity1867
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > infinity > infinite distance
infinity1867
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > geometric space > [noun] > infinite distance in
infinity1867
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > action of taking photograph > technical factors > [noun] > type of focusing
depth of field1855
circle of least confusion1867
flatness of field1867
infinity1867
register1890
fixed focus1892
back focus1897
circle of confusion1906
isocentre1931
split-field1941
split-image1950
1867 T. Sutton & G. Dawson Dict. Photogr. 122 In every lens there is..a certain distance of a near object from it, between which and infinity all objects are in equally good focus.
1873 B. Williamson Elem. Treat. Differential Calculus (ed. 2) xiii. §192 A system of parallel lines may be considered as meeting in the same point at infinity.
1873 B. Williamson Elem. Treat. Differential Calculus (ed. 2) xiii. §195 The ordinary parabola..[has] the line at infinity for an asymptote.
1885 C. Leudesdorf tr. L. Cremona Elements Projective Geom. 221 Suppose the four tangents to be parallel in pairs..then one diagonal will pass to infinity.
1910 Photogr. for Beginners (Country Life Ltd.) ii. 13 These are called ‘fixed focus’ cameras, and the lens is ‘set at Infinity’, which means that, provided the object to be photographed is not nearer the camera than, say, twenty feet, everything in the picture will appear sharp.
1929 R. H. Goodsall Beginner's Guide Photogr. v. 22 The next thing is to adjust the lens to correct focus... All subjects over 100 feet away will be at ‘infinity’, smaller distances are marked on the scale.
1939 J. M. Blair Pract. & Theoret. Photogr. ix. 89 The hyperfocal distance is the least distance at which a lens may be focussed when objects at infinity are still in focus.
1950 G. L. Wakefield Your Camera Lens & Shutter ii. 27 In photography, an object at 100 feet away from the lens would be normally considered as being at infinity. Infinity cannot be rigidly defined in the photographic sense, but it becomes a greater distance as the focal length of the lens increases.
1974 Trafford Catal. Spring & Summer 890/1 Kodak 100 pocket camera outfit. Fine 3-element lens gives sharp colourful prints or slides from 4 ft. to infinity.
Draft additions December 2005
infinity pool n. originally North American an outdoor swimming pool designed to give the impression that it lacks an edge or edges and merges into the surrounding landscape.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > swimming > [noun] > swimming pool
swimming-bath1742
natatorium1832
piscina1832
swimming-pond1833
swimming pool1899
pool1906
above-ground pool1957
infinity pool1992
1992 Orange County (Calif.) Register 23 June e1/4 Dinner tables were sprinkled around an infinity pool (designed to look as if it's spilling over the hillside), guarded by a fountain of swans.
2003 J. Farris Fury & Power 18 Alberta Nkambe had begun her daily half-mile swim in the infinity pool at the edge of the east lawn, overlooking a landscape of farms, bush, and extinct volcanoes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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