asymptotic.

1. Relating to a line or curve that a given curve approaches increasingly closely.

2. Describing a quantity or method's behavior as a parameter, often sample size, approaches a limit.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• asymptotic curve
• asymptotic behavior
• asymptotic approach

On the page

The graph shows an asymptotic approach to the horizontal axis.

The two branches have different asymptotic behavior.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal / analytical. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Normally non-gradable; no ordinary comparative or superlative. Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: MW directly read adjective relating to an asymptote; less common variant asymptotical. Washington primer successful slower reading: limiting distributions, asymptotic normality and variance, and large-sample approximate confidence validity. Geometric and analytical limit applications kept apart; finite-sample exactness not asserted. Individually useful in research, criticism, methodology or conceptual analysis. Definitions and examples are original; no mood or intensity assigned to neutral analytical concepts. Commonness is an editorial estimate, not a frequency statistic. Writing functions: limiting behavior rather than finite-sample equality, geometric and statistical uses separated.