supremum Math.
(s(j)uːˈpriːməm)
[L., = highest, neut. of suprēmus (see supreme a. and n.).]
The smallest number that is greater than or equal to each of a given set of real numbers; an analogous quantity for a subset of any other ordered set.
| 1940, 1949 [see infimum]. 1968 E. T. Copson Metric Spaces i. 13 An ordered field S is said to have the supremum property if and only if every non-empty subset of S..has a supremum in S. 1971 Hadley & Kemp Variational Methods in Economics ii. 53 We now define U* as the supremum of levels of utility which can be maintained indefinitely. |