finitude

English

Etymology

From finite +‎ -itude, or from Renaissance Latin finitūdō (“signifying a noun of state”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (UK):

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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.

   • 2025 January 30, Zachary Przystup, “Is 2 cars too many? Lamenting life in the fast lane.”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

     A one-car life is one of finitude and limitations.

Usage notes

Finitude is relatively 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”. Finitude may also be used outside of formal contexts for humorous effect.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:finitude.

Synonyms

• (state or characteristic of being finite): finiteness, finity, limitedness; see also Thesaurus:finity

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “state or characteristic of being finite”): infiniteness, infinitude, infinity, limitlessness, unlimitedness; see also Thesaurus:infinity

References

• “finitude”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi.ni.tyd/

Noun

finitude f (plural finitudes)

1. finitude, impermanence, transience

Further reading

• “finitude”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.