finitude
English edit
Etymology edit
From finite + -itude, or from Renaissance Latin finitūdō (“signifying a noun of state”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
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 edit
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 edit
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:finitude.
Synonyms edit
- (state or characteristic of being finite): finiteness, finity, limitedness; see also Thesaurus:finity
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of “state or characteristic of being finite”): infiniteness, infinitude, infinity, limitlessness, unlimitedness; see also Thesaurus:infinity
References edit
- “finitude”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
finitude f (plural finitudes)
Further reading edit
- “finitude”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.