asymptote Math.
(ˈæsɪmtəʊt)
[ad. (ultimately) Gr. ἀσύµπτωτος not falling together, f. ἀ priv. + σύν together + πτωτ-ός apt to fall. Cf. F. asymptote.]
A line which approaches nearer and nearer to a given curve, but does not meet it within a finite distance. A rectilinear asymptote may be considered as a tangent to the curve when produced to an infinite distance. Also fig.
| 1656 tr. Hobbes' Elem. Philos. (1839) 200 Asymptotes..come still nearer and nearer, but never touch. 1796 Hutton Math. Dict. I. 162 Two parabolas, placed with their axes in the same right line, are asymptotes to one another. 1860 Farrar Orig. Lang. 117 Language, in relation to thought, must ever be regarded as an asymptote. 1867 Denison Astron. without Math. 238 [A hyperbola's] legs continually approach two straight lines called asymptotes which are in fact the outline of the cone itself, but never reach them. |
b. attrib. quasi-adj.
| a 1714 Grew (J.) Asymptote lines..produced infinitely will never meet. |