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INFINITE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The unlimited expanse in which everything is located
Example:
the boundless regions of the infinite
Synonyms:
infinite; space
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("infinite" is a kind of...):
attribute (an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity)
Meronyms (parts of "infinite"):
location (a point or extent in space)
aerospace (the atmosphere and outer space considered as a whole)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "infinite"):
absolute space (physical space independent of what occupies it)
phase space ((physics) an ideal space in which the coordinate dimensions represent the variables that are required to describe a system or substance)
mathematical space; topological space ((mathematics) any set of points that satisfy a set of postulates of some kind)
outer space; space (any location outside the Earth's atmosphere)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Total and all-embracing
Example:
God's infinite wisdom
Classified under:
Similar:
absolute (perfect or complete or pure)
Derivation:
infiniteness (the quality of being infinite; without bound or limit)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Too numerous to be counted
Example:
myriad stars
Synonyms:
countless; infinite; innumerable; innumerous; multitudinous; myriad; numberless; uncounted; unnumberable; unnumbered; unnumerable
Classified under:
Similar:
incalculable (not able to be computed or enumerated)
Derivation:
infiniteness (the quality of being infinite; without bound or limit)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Having no limits or boundaries in time or space or extent or magnitude
Example:
infinite wealth
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
boundless; limitless; unbounded (seemingly boundless in amount, number, degree, or especially extent)
dateless; endless; sempiternal (having no known beginning and presumably no end)
endless (infinitely great in number)
inexhaustible; unlimited (that cannot be entirely consumed or used up)
Also:
immortal (not subject to death)
Antonym:
finite (bounded or limited in magnitude or spatial or temporal extent)
Derivation:
infiniteness (the quality of being infinite; without bound or limit)
infinity (time without end)
Sense 4
Meaning:
(of verbs) not having tense, person, or number (as a participle or gerund or infinitive)
Example:
infinite verb form
Synonyms:
infinite; non-finite; nonfinite
Classified under:
Adjectives
Domain category:
grammar (the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics))
Antonym:
finite ((of verbs) relating to forms of the verb that are limited in time by a tense and (usually) show agreement with number and person)
Context examples:
He closed his eyes and composed himself with infinite precaution.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
The middle one of the three windows was half-way open; and sitting close beside it, taking the air with an infinite sadness of mien, like some disconsolate prisoner, Utterson saw Dr. Jekyll.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Then One Eye, creeping and crawling, every sense on the alert, every hair radiating infinite suspicion, joined her.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
An imaginary sphere of infinite radius, on which the stars appear to be placed.
(Celestial sphere, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)
Might he be trusted with the commission, what infinite pleasure should he have in executing it! he could ride to London at any time.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
The mathematical practice of applying a model to continuous data which has a potentially infinite number, and divisibility, of attributes.
(Continuum Modeling, NCI Thesaurus)
I saw the smoke banks on that October evening swirl slowly up over the Atlantic swell, and rise, and rise, until they had shredded into thinnest air, and lost themselves in the infinite blue of heaven.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But this princess, who has an infinite deal of wit and humour, set me gently on my feet upon the scrutoire, and commanded me to give his majesty an account of myself, which I did in a very few words: and Glumdalclitch who attended at the cabinet door, and could not endure I should be out of her sight, being admitted, confirmed all that had passed from my arrival at her father’s house.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
While doing so, I shall make it my business, with infinite tact and delicacy, to throw out a few remarks which may arouse the interest of the audience and cause some of them to desire to go more deeply into the matter.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and when I judged myself near enough, rose at infinite risk to about half my height and thus commanded the roof and a slice of the interior of the cabin.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
