Infinitesimal definition

ĭnfĭn-ĭ-tĕsə-məl
Capable of having values approaching zero as a limit.
adjective
4
1
Immeasurably or incalculably minute.
adjective
3
0
(mathematics) Capable of having values approaching zero as a limit.
adjective
3
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The definition of infinitesimal is something extremely small or very close to 0, or too small to be measured.

When you have only a single grain of rice, this is an example of a time when you have an infinitesimal amount of rice.

adjective
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An immeasurably or incalculably minute amount or quantity.
noun
1
0
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(mathematics) A function or variable continuously approaching zero as a limit.
noun
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(math.) Of or pertaining to an infinitesimal.
adjective
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An infinitesimal quantity.
noun
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(math.) A variable that approaches zero as a limit.
noun
1
0
Too small to be measured.
adjective
1
1
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A function or variable continuously approaching zero as a limit.
noun
0
0

Do you ever get the feeling that you are but an infinitesimal speck, swallowed by the vastness of the universe and beyond?

adjective
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(mathematics) Of or pertaining to values that approach zero as a limit.
adjective
0
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(informal) Very small.
adjective
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(mathematics) A non-zero quantity whose magnitude is smaller than any positive number (by definition it is not a real number).
noun
0
0
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
infinitesimal
Plural:
infinitesimals

Origin of infinitesimal

  • From New Latin īnfīnītēsimus infinite in rank from Latin īnfīnītus infinite infinite

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Infinitesimal Sentence Examples

  • Roberval was one of those mathematicians who, just before the invention of the infinitesimal calculus, occupied their attention with problems which are only soluble, or can be most easily solved, by some method involving limits or infinitesimals, and in the solution of which accordingly the calculus is always now employed.

  • In mechanics we are specially concerned with the theory of infinitesimal displacements.

  • They afford yet another great advantage in that the derivation of the results requires only the analytic operations of the infinitesimal calculus.

  • For the subjects of this heading see the articles DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS; FOURIER'S SERIES; CONTINUED FRACTIONS; FUNCTION; FUNCTION OF REAL VARIABLES; FUNCTION COMPLEX; GROUPS, THEORY OF; INFINITESIMAL CALCULUS; MAXIMA AND MINIMA; SERIES; SPHERICAL HARMONICS; TRIGONOMETRY; VARIATIONS, CALCULUS OF.

  • The acreage devoted to any other crop is practically infinitesimal, though in the eastern part more attention is paid to fruit-growing than perhaps in any other part of South Wales.

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Words near infinitesimal in the Dictionary