Your American History Reference Guide!
- Ad infinitum

HistoryMania Information Site on Ad infinitum American History American History Search        American History Browse welcome to our free resource site for all enthusiasts!

Ad infinitum

Ad infinitum is a Latin phrase meaning "to infinity."

In context, it usually means "continue forever," and thus can be used to describe a non-terminating process, a non-terminating repeating process, or a set of instructions to be repeated "forever," among other uses. It may also be used in a manner similar to the Latin phrase "et cetera" to denote written words or a concept that continues for a lengthy period beyond what is shown. Examples include:

  • "The series 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 ... continues ad infinitum."
  • "The perimeter of a fractal may be iteratively drawn ad infinitum, and thus its length will approach infinity."
  • And this humorous 18th century poem by Jonathan Swift:
Great fleas have little fleas
upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas,
and so on ad infinitum.

Ad infinitum is also a short-lived British musical group. "AD Infinitum" is also the name of a software product that assists in the management of Active Directory.

The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the
GNU Free Documentation License. How to see transparent copy
Search | Browse | Contact | Legal info