definitions

Zeno's paradox

noun Mathematics.

any of various versions of a paradox regarding the relation of the discrete to the continuous and requiring the concept of limit for its satisfactory explanation.

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Origin of Zeno's paradox

after Zeno of Elea
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Culture definitions for zeno's paradox

Zeno's paradox

[ (zee-nohz) ]

A paradox is an apparent falsehood that is true, or an apparent truth that is false. Zeno, an ancient Greek, argued that a number of apparent truths such as motion and plurality are really false. A well-known, simplified version of one of his paradoxes is that an arrow can never reach its target, because the distance it must travel can be divided into an infinite number of subdistances, and therefore the arrow must take an infinite amount of time to arrive at its destination.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.