infinitesimal
adjective
- next to nothing in size; very small
noun
- mathematical concept
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˌɪnfɪnɪˈtɛsɪməl/
adj
Etymology: From New Latin īnfīnītēsimus + -al. Displaced earlier coordinate term fluxion.
- Incalculably, exceedingly, or immeasurably minute; vanishingly small.
“Do you ever get the feeling that you are but an infinitesimal speck, swallowed by the vastness of the universe and beyond?”
“"You will conceive a bunch of grapes," said he, "which are covered by some infinitesimal but noxious bacillus."”
- Of or pertaining to non-zero quantities whose magnitude is less than any positive rational number.
- Very small.
noun
Etymology: From New Latin īnfīnītēsimus + -al. Displaced earlier coordinate term fluxion.
- A non-zero quantity whose magnitude is smaller than any positive number (by definition it is not a real number).
- Something infinitesimally small.
“It occurred to the hearer, who was accustomed to glean much of his knowledge from the infinitesimals of tone, that there was a spice of "It is my duty and I will" in this praiseworthy resolve which fell short of the ecstatic resolution of the Saturday Nora.”