Meanings
alternative ad inf.
- not comparableEndlessly; for ever; never-endingly.
The idea of eternal return is a mysterious one, and Nietzsche has often perplexed other philosophers with it: to think that everything recurs as we once experienced it, and that the recurrence itself recurs ad infinitum!
1984, Milan Kundera, part I (Lightness and Weight), chapter I, in Michael Henry Heim, transl., The Unbearable Lightness of Being, London: Faber and Faber, translation of Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí, published 1985, →ISBN, page 31 more example
Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em, And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum. And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on; While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.
1872, Augustus DeMorgan, Siphonaptera
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latinad īnfīnītum
- Englishad infinitum
Unadapted borrowing from Latin ad īnfīnītum (“to infinity”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian до безкра́йност, безкра́йно
- до безкра́йност (do bezkrájnost)endlessly
- безкра́йно (bezkrájno)endlessly
Chinese Mandarin 無限制 /无限制, 無休止地 /无休止地
- 無限制 /无限制 (wú xiànzhì)endlessly
- 無休止地 /无休止地 (wú xiūzhǐ de)endlessly
- 不休 (bùxiū)endlessly
- 不斷地 /不断地 (bùduàn de)endlessly
- 不已 (bùyǐ)endlessly
Czech do nekonečna
- do nekonečnaendlessly
Dutch in oneindigheid, voor altijd
- in oneindigheidendlessly
- voor altijdendlessly
Finnish ikuisesti, loputtomasti
- ikuisestiendlessly
- loputtomastiendlessly
- loputtomiinendlessly
French à l'infini
- à l'infiniendlessly
German endlos, ad infinitum
- endlosendlessly
- ad infinitumendlessly
Greek επ’ άπειρον
- επ’ άπειρον (ep’ ápeiron)endlessly
Hindi निरवधि
- निरवधि (niravdhi)endlessly
Hungarian végtelenségig, vég nélkül
- végtelenségigendlessly
- vég nélkülendlessly
Japanese 無限に, 際限なく
- 無限に (mugen ni)endlessly
- 際限なく (saigen naku)endlessly
Korean 영구히
- 영구히 (yeongguhi)endlessly
Latin ad īnfīnītum
- ad īnfīnītumendlessly
Norwegian i all uendelighet, uten slutt
- i all uendelighetendlessly
- uten sluttendlessly
Polish nieskończenie, do nieskończoności
- nieskończenieendlessly
- do nieskończonościendlessly
- ad infinitumendlessly
Portuguese ad infinitum, infinitamente
- ad infinitumendlessly
- infinitamenteendlessly
Russian бесконе́чно, до бесконе́чности
- бесконе́чно (beskonéčno)endlessly
- до бесконе́чности (do beskonéčnosti)endlessly
Spanish al infinito, indefinidamente
- al infinitoendlessly
- indefinidamenteendlessly
- sinfínendlessly
- ad infinitumendlessly
Swedish i all oändlighet, utan slut
- i all oändlighetendlessly
- utan slutendlessly
Tagalog walang hanggan, walang hangganan
- walang hangganendlessly
- walang hanggananendlessly
Vietnamese vô cùng
- vô cùngendlessly
Cite this entry
ad infinitum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ad%20infinitum
“ad infinitum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ad%20infinitum. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ad infinitum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ad%20infinitum.
Source: ad infinitum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.