Ad infinitum

This article is about the Latin phrase. For the musical group, see Ad Infinitum (band).

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

Description

In context, it usually means "continue forever, without limit" 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 sequence 1, 2, 3, ... continues ad infinitum."
• "The perimeter of a fractal may be iteratively drawn ad infinitum."
• The 17th-century writer Jonathan Swift wrote lightheartedly the idea of self-similarity in natural philosophy with the following lines in his poem "On Poetry: A Rhapsody":

...

"So nat'ralists observe, a flea

Has smaller fleas that on him prey;

And these have smaller fleas to bite 'em.

And so proceeds Ad infinitum."

...

• The Victorian era mathematician Augustus De Morgan expanded on this with a similar verse:

"Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,

And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.

And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on,

While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on."

This text is part of the nursery rhyme "The Siphonaptera".

See also

• Mathematical induction
• Recursion
• Self-reference
• "The Song That Never Ends"
• Turtles all the way down

External links

• The dictionary definition of ad infinitum at Wiktionary