infinity

plural infinities

1. uncountableEndlessness, unlimitedness, absence of a beginning, end or limits to size.

   concept of infinity

   2 more examples

   The desert stretched out toward the horizon as if into infinity.

   Richard Feynman, who shared the 1965 Nobel Prize with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga for this breakthrough, referred to this sleight of hand as “brushing infinity under the rug.”

   2012 January 28, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2013, page 86

2. countablemathematicsA number that has an infinite numerical value that cannot be counted.

   1 more example

   Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the theories.

   2012 January 28, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2013, page 86

   Synonyms: mul:∞

3. countablemathematical analysisAn idealised point which is said to be approached by sequences of values whose magnitudes increase without bound.
4. uncountableA number which is very large compared to some characteristic number. For example, in optics, an object which is much further away than the focal length of a lens is said to be "at infinity", as the distance of the image from the lens varies very little as the distance increases further.
5. countableuncountableThe symbol ∞.