ad infinitum
English
WOTD – 14 March 2016
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin ad īnfīnītum (“to infinity”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: ăd ĭn′fə-nī′təm
- (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA(key): /æd ˌɪn.fəˈnaɪ.təm/
- (Received Pronunciation, Scotland) IPA(key): /ad ˌɪn.fəˈnaɪ.təm/
- (Canada) IPA(key): /æd ˌɪn.fəˈnʌɪ.təm/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /æd ˌɪn.fəˈnɑɪ.təm/
- (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ɛd ˌən.fəˈnaɪ.təm/
- (Scotland) IPA(key): /ad ˌɪn.fəˈnʌi.təm/, /ad ˌɪn.fəˈnəi.təm/
- (India) IPA(key): /æɖ ˌin.fiˈnaj.ʈəm/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌæd ɪnfɪˈnaɪtəm/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -aɪtəm
- Hyphenation: ad in‧fi‧ni‧tum
Adverb
ad infinitum (not comparable)
- Endlessly; for ever; neverendingly.
- 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 3:
- 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!
Translations
endlessly
|
German
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin ad īnfīnītum (“to infinity”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ad in.fi.ˈni.tum/, [at ɪn.fiːˈni.tuːm]
- Hyphenation: ad in‧fi‧ni‧tum
Adverb
ad infinitum
- ad infinitum (endlessly)
- Synonyms: in infinitum, endlos
References
- “ad infinitum” in Duden online
Latin
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈad ĩː.fiːˈniː.tũː]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈad̪ iɱ.fiˈniː.t̪um]
Adverb
- to or till infinity, to an unlimited extent, without restriction, everywhere, at pleasure
Descendants
- → German: ad infinitum (learned)
- → English: ad infinitum (learned)
- → Spanish: ad infinitum (learned)
- → Polish: ad infinitum (learned)
- → Portuguese: ad infinitum (learned)
References
- “in-fīnītus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- infīnītus ¶4 in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette: “814/3”
- “infīnītus ¶2” on page 900/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
Polish
Alternative forms
- (abbreviation) ad inf.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin ad īnfīnītum (“to infinity”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /at ˌin.fiˈɲi.tum/
Audio: (file) - Syllabification: ad in‧fi‧ni‧tum
Adverb
ad infinitum (not comparable)
- ad infinitum (endlessly)
Further reading
- ad infinitum in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin ad īnfīnītum (“to infinity”).
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈad ĩˈfĩ.ni.tũ/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈad ĩˈfi.ni.tũ/
Adverb
ad infinitum (not comparable)
- ad infinitum (endlessly)
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sempre
Spanish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin ad īnfīnītum (“to infinity”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌad infiˈnitum/ [ˌað̞ ĩɱ.fiˈni.t̪ũm]
Audio (El Salvador): (file) - Syllabification: ad in‧fi‧ni‧tum
Adverb
ad infinitum
- ad infinitum (endlessly)
- Synonym: indefinidamente
References
- “ad infinitum”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024