English
infinity
Infinity comes from Latin īnfīnitās ‘unlimitedness’, and goes back to fīnis ‘end’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfīnis‘end’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnfīnitās‘unlimitedness’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400infinité
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500infinite
- Englishearliest quotation 2012infinity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfīnis‘end’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnfīnitās‘unlimitedness’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400infinité
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500infinite
- Englishearliest quotation 2012infinity
Earliest quotation: 2012, Michael Riordan, Tackling Infinity: “Richard Feynman, who shared the 1965 Nobel Prize with…”
Equivalent to infinite + -ity
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- ‘to stick, set up’
fix, dig, ditch, dyke, dike, crucify, 22 more
through Latin *fignis
finale, finesse, confine, 13 more
through Latin fīnis ‘end’
final, fine, finish, definition, fin, finite, financier, fino, finis, finial, 18 more
Today it means
noun Endlessness, unlimitedness, absence of a beginning, end or limits to size.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin fīnis / infinity