Asymptote

Origin

From Apollonius of Perga's Ancient Greek term ἀσύμπτωτος (asúmptōtos, "not falling together"), from ἀ ("not") + σύν ("together") + πτωτός ("fallen").

Full definition of asymptote

Noun

1. (analysis) A straight line which a curve approaches arbitrarily closely, as they go to infinity. The limit of the curve, its tangent "at infinity".
2. (by extension, figuratively) Anything which comes near to but never meets something else.
• 1860: Frederic William Farrar, An Essay on the Origin of Language, page 117Language, in relation to thought, must ever be regarded as an asymptote.

Derived terms

• asymptotic
• asymptotics
• asymptotical
• asymptotically

Verb

1. (analysis) To approach, but never quite touch, a straight line, as something goes to infinity.
• 2006: Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Perimeter of IgnoranceNeil deGrasse Tyson: Take 2 - Why evolution is true. 25 February 2013As you become more scientific, yes, the religiosity drops off, but it asymptotes.