asymptoten.
/ˈasɪmtəʊt/ Mathematics.
a. A line which approaches nearer and nearer to a given curve, but does not meet it within a finite distance. A rectilinear asymptote may be considered as a tangent to the curve when produced to an infinite distance. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > specific relating to a curve
asymptote1656
radius1657
radial1702
subradius1826
1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. ii. xiv. 145 Asymptotes..come still neerer and neerer but never touch.
1796 C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict. (new ed.) I. 162 Two parabolas, placed with their axes in the same right line, are asymptotes to one another.
1860 F. W. Farrar Ess. Origin Lang. 117 Language, in relation to thought, must ever be regarded as an asymptote.
1867 E. B. Denison Astron. without Math. (ed. 3) 238 [A hyperbola's] legs continually approach two straight lines called asymptotes which are in fact the outline of the cone itself, but never reach them.
b. attributive quasi-adj.
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1701 N. Grew Cosmol. Sacra ii. v. §28 55 Asymptote Lines..produced Infinitely, will never meet.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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