asymptote

Where does the word "asymptote" come from? It comes from Greek asymptotos, and was adopted directly into English (1650s).

Asymptote’s story begins in Greek: asymptotos meant “not meeting.” Literally not falling together, from a- (not) and symptotos (falling together). It reached English by 1650s as asymptote. From Greek 'a-', not, plus 'symptōtos', falling together; Apollonius of Perga used it for the lines approached by a hyperbola. Today, asymptote means a line that a curve approaches indefinitely but never quite meets.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient asymptotos "not meeting", literally not falling together, from a- (not) and symptotos (falling together).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1650s asymptote "a line a curve approaches but never touches", from Greek 'a-', not, plus 'symptōtos', falling together; Apollonius of Perga used it for the lines approached by a hyperbola.