What does "googolplex" mean?
a cardinal number represented as 1 followed by a googol of zeros (ten raised to the power of a googol)
Googolplex
/ˈɡuːɡəlplɛks/ num
num ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: a cardinal number represented as 1 followed by a googol of zeros (ten raised to the power of a googol)
- Grammar: googolplex is listed as num.
- Nearest alternatives: astronomical, astronomical figure, astronomical number, billion.
- Useful contrasts: cautious, conventional, finite.
- Usage evidence: What is the largest prime number smaller than a googolplex?
How to use "googolplex"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 a cardinal number represented as 1 followed by a googol of zeros (ten raised to the power of a googol) wordnet
Numeral
- 1 The number 10^(10¹⁰⁰) or 10^( text )googol, ten to the power of a googol.
"The name "googol" was invented by a child (Dr. Kasner's nine-year-old nephew) who was asked to think up a name for a very big number, namely, 1 with a hundred zeros after it. He was very certain that this number was not infinite, and therefore equally certain that it had to have a name. At the same time that he suggested "googol" he gave a name for a still larger number: "Googolplex." A googolplex is much larger than a googol, but is still finite, as the inventor of the name was quick to point out. It was first suggested that a googolplex should be 1, followed by writing zeros until you got tired. This is a description of what would happen if one actually tried to write a googolplex, but different people get tired at different times and it would never do to have [Primo] Carnera a better mathematician than Dr. [Albert] Einstein, simply because he had more endurance. The googolplex then, is a specific finite number, with so many zeros after the 1 that the number of zeros is a googol. A googolplex is much bigger than a googol, much bigger than a googol times a googol. A googol times a googol would be 1 with 200 zeros, whereas a googolplex is one with a googol of zeros. You will get some idea of the size of this very large but finite number from the fact that there would not be enough room to write it, if you went to the farthest star, touring all the nebulae and putting down zeros every inch of the way."
- 2 A countable number. figuratively
"Inflationary theory suggests that the entirety of space is vastly larger. Quantum theory suggests that there are many different copies of space of the same basic kind as ours (same laws of physics). String theory further suggests that there may be many different kinds of space. This whole collection of googolplexes of galaxies within each of googolplexes of different spaces within each of googols of kinds of space makes up an enormously vast universe or multiverse."
- 3 An infinitesimally small portion of land, defined for legal purposes. US, nonstandard, rare
"To a mathematician, a googolplex is the figure 1 followed by a googol of zeroes (a googol being the figure 1 followed by a mere 100 zeroes). To a real-estate man, it's one infinitesimal parcel of a plot of land."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"What is the largest prime number smaller than a googolplex?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "googolplex"?
Common synonyms include: astronomical, astronomical figure, astronomical number, billion, colossal, extreme descriptor.
How do you use "googolplex" in a sentence?
What is the largest prime number smaller than a googolplex?
How do you pronounce "googolplex"?
Pronounced /ˈɡuːɡəlplɛks/.
Etymology
From googol + -plex, coined by American mathematician Milton Sirotta in 1920 who was then the young nephew of mathematician Edward Kasner. First published and defined in the book Mathematics and the Imagination (1940).