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ad infinitum

 
American Heritage Dictionary:

ad in·fi·ni·tum

(ăd ĭn'fə-nī'təm) pronunciation
adv. & adj.
To infinity; having no end.

[Latin ad, to + īnfīnītum, accusative of īnfīnītus, infinite.]


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Indefinitely, with no limit on the amount of money or time. An example is a perpetual annuity of payments made by a company to an individual. The individual will receive payments ad infinitum.

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A Latin phrase meaning "to infinity" - in other words, forever. In finance, the term is associated with a perpetuity, in which the payments derived from an asset at fixed intervals are assumed to go on forever and ever, or ad infinitum.

Investopedia Says:
Payments received ad infinitum do indeed go on a very long time. But it's important to realize that, because of the time value of money, the present value (i.e, the value today) of those payments very far off in the future (say, 50 years from now) is negligible. Thus the present value of an ordinary annuity (i.e., one with a fixed end) of 50 years is not very much less than that of a perpetuity whose payments go on ad infinitum.

Related Links:
Find out why time really is money by learning to calculate present and future value. Understanding The Time Value Of Money
Why do companies issue 100-year bonds?
At some point in your life you will have to deal with a series of fixed payments over time, so it pays to know how to calculate them. Calculating The Present And Future Value Of Annuities
Make sure you understand your options for withdrawing your funds from this complex instrument. Selecting The Payout On Your Annuity


Latin Phrase:

ad infinitum

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to infinity, i.e., without limit

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
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Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Ad infinitum

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Ad infinitum is a Latin phrase meaning "to infinity."

In context, it usually means "continue forever, without limit" and thus can be used to describe a non-terminating process, a non-terminating repeating process, or a set of instructions to be repeated "forever," among other uses. It may also be used in a manner similar to the Latin phrase "et cetera" to denote written words or a concept that continues for a lengthy period beyond what is shown. Examples include:

  • "The sequence 1, 2, 3, ... continues ad infinitum."
  • "The perimeter of a fractal may be iteratively drawn ad infinitum."
  • The 17th century writer Jonathan Swift mocked the idea of self-similarity in natural philosophy with the following lines in his poem 'On Poetry: A Rhapsody'[1]:
...
"So nat'ralists observe, a flea
Hath smaller fleas that on him prey,
And these have smaller fleas that bite 'em,
And so proceed ad infinitum."
...
"Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.
And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on,
While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on."

This text appears in the nursery rhyme The Siphonaptera almost unchanged.

See also

References

  1. ^ Jonathon Swift, "On Poetry: A Rhapsody", pub. 1733
  2. ^ Augustus de Morgan, A Budget of Paradoxes, pub. 1872, p. 377

 
 
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Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Answers Corporation Latin Phrase. © 1999-present by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
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 Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Ad infinitum Read more

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