transfinite number

American  

noun

Mathematics.

1. an infinite cardinal or ordinal number.

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transfinite number British  

noun

1. a cardinal or ordinal number used in the comparison of infinite sets for which several types of infinity can be classified

   the set of integers and the set of real numbers have different transfinite numbers

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transfinite number Scientific  

/ trăns-fī′nīt′ /

1. A number that is greater than any finite number.

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Etymology

Origin of transfinite number

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

It would be improper to state that no new data have arisen in the development of mathematics, in the face of such innovations as the minus quantity, the irrational, the imaginary, the infinitesimal, or the transfinite number, and yet the innovations appear as the recasting of the mathematical theories rather than as new facts.

From Project Gutenberg

"Unless it were a transfinite number falling in love with a finite one—I suppose such things do happen, even in mathematics."

From Project Gutenberg