finitude

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word finitude. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word finitude, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say finitude in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word finitude you have here. The definition of the word finitude will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition offinitude, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

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)

  1. 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

Synonyms

Antonyms

References

  • finitude”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Pronunciation

Noun

finitude f (plural finitudes)

  1. finitude, impermanence, transience

Further reading