overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

asymptote.

A straight line which a curve approaches arbitrarily closely as it goes to infinity. The limit of the curve; its tangent "at infinity".

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈæsɪmptəʊ̯t/Received-Pronunciation[ˈæsɪmtəʊ̯t]Received-Pronunciation/ˈæsɪmtɒt/Received-Pronunciation/ˈæsɪmptoʊ̯t/Canada, General-American
  1. A straight line which a curve approaches arbitrarily closely as it goes to infinity. The limit of the curve; its tangent "at infinity".

  2. Anything which comes near to but never meets something else.

    broadly · figuratively
Where this word comes from

circa 1650, from Ancient Greek ἀσύμπτωτη (asúmptōtē), the feminine of Apollonius Pergaeus' (circa 200 BC) Ancient Greek adjective ἀσύμπτωτος (asúmptōtos, “not falling together”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + συν- (sun-, “together”) + πτωτός (ptōtós, “fallen”). See also a-, syn-, -ote.

verb/ˈæsɪmptəʊ̯t/Received-Pronunciation[ˈæsɪmtəʊ̯t]Received-Pronunciation/ˈæsɪmtɒt/Received-Pronunciation/ˈæsɪmptoʊ̯t/Canada, General-American
  1. To approach, but never quite touch, a straight line, as something goes to infinity.

Where this word comes from

circa 1650, from Ancient Greek ἀσύμπτωτη (asúmptōtē), the feminine of Apollonius Pergaeus' (circa 200 BC) Ancient Greek adjective ἀσύμπτωτος (asúmptōtos, “not falling together”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + συν- (sun-, “together”) + πτωτός (ptōtós, “fallen”). See also a-, syn-, -ote.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

asymptote has 9 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

asymptote studioasymptote workshello, asymptote

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.