different between countless vs countable

English

Etymology

count +? -less

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?ntl?s/
• Hyphenation: count?less

Adjective

countless (not comparable)

1. Too many to count; innumerable or incalculable

Synonyms

• numberless, see also Thesaurus:innumerable or Thesaurus:incalculable

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English countable, equivalent to count (“to enumerate”) +? -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?nt?b?l/
  • (US) IPA^(key): [?k?a?n(?)?b??]

Adjective

countable (not comparable)

1. Capable of being counted; having a quantity.

   Antonym: uncountable

2. (mathematics, of a set) Finite or countably infinite; having a one-to-one correspondence (bijection) with a subset of the natural numbers.

   Antonym: uncountable

3. (mathematics, of a set) Countably infinite; having a bijection with the natural numbers.

   Synonym: denumerable

4. (grammar, of a noun) Freely usable with the indefinite article and with numbers, and therefore having a plural form.

   Antonym: uncountable

Usage notes

The mathematics sense by which finite sets are countable is more common than the sense by which finite sets are not countable. To avoid ambiguity, the terms at most countable or countably infinite may be used.

Antonyms

• non-denumerable
• uncountable

Hypernyms

• (countably infinite): infinite

Hyponyms

• (having a bijection with a subset of the natural numbers): finite, countably infinite

Derived terms

• countable set
• countable additivity

Related terms

• countability

Translations

See also

• mass noun
• plurale tantum
• denumerability