finitude
English
Etymology
From finite + -itude, or from Renaissance Latin finitūdō (“signifying a noun of state”).
Pronunciation
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file)
Noun
finitude (countable and uncountable, plural finitudes)
- The state or characteristic of being finite; limitedness.
- 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 15:
- Matter expresses the finitude of time-space; in this world of limitation a new way of knowing becomes possible, and this way is language.
Usage notes
Finitude is rather formal and used in philosophy, while finiteness is used in mathematics; however, infinitude is used in mathematics more than infiniteness. Less formal is to reword to use limited: “(the fact that) life is limited” rather than “the finitude of life”.
Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:finitude.
Synonyms
- (state or characteristic of being finite): finiteness, finity, limitedness; see also Thesaurus:finity
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “state or characteristic of being finite”): infiniteness, infinitude, infinity, limitlessness, unlimitedness; see also Thesaurus:infinity
References
- “finitude”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fi.ni.tyd/
Further reading
- “finitude”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
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