Finite definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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American Heritage Dictionary (8)

adjective Having bounds; limited: a finite list of choices; our finite fossil fuel reserves.
adjective Existing, persisting, or enduring for a limited time only; impermanent.
adjective Mathematics Being neither infinite nor infinitesimal.

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Century Dictionary (13)

Not too great nor too small to be naturally susceptible of measurement, whether measurable by us or not; not infinite nor infinitesimal. All objects of ordinary experience are finite; God, eternity, immensity, and the like are not finite. Etymologically, finite means having an end or terminal; but this signification is not coextensive with the English use of the term. Thus, the circumference of a circle has no ends, yet is finite; while past time has an end, yet is not finite. So, if a finite are be cut out of a parabola, what remains has two ends, yet is not finite. The obvious portions of extension that affect our senses carry with them into the mind the idea of finite; and the ordinary periods of succession whereby we measure time and duration, as hours, days, and years, are bounded lengths. Locke, Human Understanding, II. xvii. 2.
The following are the special significations of the word: As applied to a class or integer number, capable of being completely counted: this is the fundamental meaning. This distinction between a finite and an infinite class is very important, because there is a peculiar mode of reasoning, called by logicians reasoning by transposed quantity, which is applicable to finite classes alone. The following syllogism is an example: “Every Hottentot kills a Hottentot; but no Hottentot is killed by more than one Hottentot; hence, every Hottentot is killed by a Hottentot.” If by the Hottentots is here meant a class of which a complete census might be taken, this conclusion must be true, provided the premises are true. But if the generations of Hottentots are everlasting, each Hottentot might kill one of his children, and yet some Hottentots might die natural deaths. Reasoning by transposed quantity is indispensable in the higher arithmetic and algebra; and consequently in these branches of mathematics the distinction between finite and infinite classes is very important.
As applied to continuous quantity, smaller than a suitably chosen finite number multiplied into the unit of measurement, and larger than a suitably chosen finite number divided by the unit of measurement. On account of the finite speed of light, each star appears to describe in space a circle of fixed magnitude, in a plane parallel to that of the ecliptic. Tait, Light, § 66.

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Those of which it is true are defined as the finite numbers. — My Philosophical Development
"These resources are finite, and we must plan and prepare for the day when revenues from the sale of non-renewable resources will form a smaller percentage of provincial government revenues," finance minister Merv Leitch said when he tabled the provincial budget in 1976. — The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed
That while the universe is finite, there is no arrow of time; there is no past or present, and that in neither a big crunch nor big bang is a singularity ever reached ...
All resources are ultimately finite, and even if solar energy is effectively infinite, the copper and silicon upon which that resource depends are not. — Grist - the Latest from Grist
Any object on earth has two fundamental properties: it is finite, and it is made of atoms. — CiteULike: Everyone's library

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