What's the difference between infinitesimal and little?

Infinitesimal


Definition:

  • (a.) Infinitely or indefinitely small; less than any assignable quantity or value; very small.
  • (n.) An infinitely small quantity; that which is less than any assignable quantity.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The first 2 ms of these transients were described by a linear model in which the fibre is regarded as a rod composed of infinitesimally small, identical segments containing a mass, one undamped elastic element and in the case of relaxed fibres two damped elastic elements in series, or in the case of activated fibres three such elastic elements in series.
  • (2) These equations can be solved easily by stepwise numerical integration involving sucessive infinitesimal rotations (SIR).
  • (3) The present day IBV might be progeny from a unique pool of primordial genome via mutation and host-induced variation, or even persistence of primordial virus as an infinitesimal portion of the population.
  • (4) Examples of current input considered are (1) an infinitesimally brief (Dirac delta function) pulse and (2) a step pulse.
  • (5) Pickup, now 71, recalls the "horrible, infinitesimal detail of how accurate you had to be, partly because you didn't want stones bouncing off the pram into the audience".
  • (6) The chances of Keeler being installed in Downing Street were infinitesimal.
  • (7) For infinitesimal steps the eigen-functions of the diffusion operator are known analytically, while for random motion of arbitrary step size they are determined by diagonalizing the transition matrix appropriate for the step model used.
  • (8) The two principal plasminogen activators (PA) and the two PA-inhibitors are present in infinitesimal concentrations in blood (pM to microM range) and in tissues.
  • (9) Experimental spectra are compared with computer simulations of spectra carried out for isotropic Brownian (limit of infinitesimal step size) and free diffusion (arbitrary step size) models.
  • (10) The infinitesimal change in entropy of a system (dS) is calculated by measuring how much heat has entered a closed system (δQ) divided by the common temperature (T) at the point where the heat transfer took place.
  • (11) However, incidence data indicate the chance of disclosing tumors, non-inflammatory cysts or other serious bone disease in the asymptomatic patient by screening jaw films is infinitesimal.
  • (12) Statistical analysis permitted empirical evaluation of creep of the cellular membrane within the range of infinitesimal stress.
  • (13) "The chances of each of us coming into existence are infinitesimally small," he argues, "and even though we shall all die some day, we should count ourselves fantastically lucky to get our decades in the sun."
  • (14) Of course, fear of risk is actually the bestselling tool of all: it is the basis of the entire insurance industry, whose profit base is predicated on the fact that fear is a very real emotion selling the product, but the statistical probability of anything actually happening, well, that is infinitesimal.
  • (15) The armed seizure of the Crimean parliament, the cynical insistence that Russian troops were not operating in Crimea when they clearly were, and the breakneck speed and flagrant violations involved in organising the Crimean referendum at short notice have been hidden behind a thread of plausible deniability stretched infinitesimally thin – and a knowing smirk on Putin's face.
  • (16) It is shown that the behavior of these waves may be explained, to a large extent, by considering the effect of the continuous stream of infinitesimal reflections that is set up whenever any wave travels in a region of vessel where the local impedance, (that is, the ratio of elastic wavespeed to tube area) is not constant.
  • (17) These changes could not be attributed to the effects of inbreeding or of selection in an infinitesimal model and suggested that some change in variance due to change in gene frequency had occurred during the course of the experiment.
  • (18) Ten healthy subjects received two treatments: a single 1 g oral dose of nalidixic acid (NA) followed 1 h later by either an infinitesimal dilution of the drug (NA 7CH) or by succussed water which served as placebo.
  • (19) The finite deformation theory describes the large strain behavior of cartilage observed in one-dimensional confined compression experiments at equilibrium, and it reduces to the linear biphasic theory under infinitesimal strain and slow strain rate conditions.
  • (20) Watson jokes that he has worked out that his Luton Town has an infinitesimally small chance of making it to the Premier League in time for matches to be aired on BT Vision before the end of the three-year deal in 2016.

Little


Definition:

  • (a.) Small in size or extent; not big; diminutive; -- opposed to big or large; as, a little body; a little animal; a little piece of ground; a little hill; a little distance; a little child.
  • (a.) Short in duration; brief; as, a little sleep.
  • (a.) Small in quantity or amount; not much; as, a little food; a little air or water.
  • (a.) Small in dignity, power, or importance; not great; insignificant; contemptible.
  • (a.) Small in force or efficiency; not strong; weak; slight; inconsiderable; as, little attention or exertion;little effort; little care or diligence.
  • (a.) Small in extent of views or sympathies; narrow; shallow; contracted; mean; illiberal; ungenerous.
  • (n.) That which is little; a small quantity, amount, space, or the like.
  • (n.) A small degree or scale; miniature.
  • (adv.) In a small quantity or degree; not much; slightly; somewhat; -- often with a preceding it.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Prior to oral feeding, little or no ELA was detected in stools and endotoxinemia was ascertained in only six of 45 infants (13%).
  • (2) 8.43am BST A little more from that Field interview on Today.
  • (3) The omission of Crossrail 2 from the Conservative manifesto , in which other infrastructure projects were listed, was the clearest sign yet that there is little appetite in a Theresa May government for another London-based scheme.
  • (4) Not only do they give employers no reason to turn them into proper jobs, but mini-jobs offer workers little incentive to work more because then they would have to pay tax.
  • (5) Some commentators have described his ship, now facing more delays after a decade in development, as little more than a Heath Robinson machine.
  • (6) Marked enhancement of IFN-gamma production by T cells was seen in the presence of as little as 0.3% thymic DC.
  • (7) The origin of the aorta and pulmonary artery from the right ventricle is a complicated and little studied congenital cardiac malformation.
  • (8) Today’s figures tell us little about the timing of the first increase in interest rates, which will depend on bigger picture news on domestic growth, pay trends and perceived downside risks in the global economy,” he said.
  • (9) It is a place that occupies two thirds of our planet but very little is known of vast swaths of it.
  • (10) The authors conclude that H. pylori alone causes little or no effect on an intact gastric mucosa in the rat, that either intact organisms or bacteria-free filtrates cause similar prolongation and delayed healing of pre-existing ulcers with active chronic inflammation, and that the presence of predisposing factors leading to disruption of gastric mucosal integrity may be required for the H. pylori enhancement of inflammation and tissue damage in the stomach.
  • (11) Furthermore, little DNA relatedness was found between the type strain and a strain of C. natalensis.
  • (12) Displacement of a colinear line over the same range without an offset evoked little, if any, response.
  • (13) Little is so far known of the origin of this syndrome.
  • (14) Known as the Little House in the Garden, this temporary structure lasted over 50 years.
  • (15) Little difference exists between the proportion of programs that offer training in first-trimester techniques and the proportion that train in second-trimester techniques.
  • (16) A study of the time-course of the response during aortic stenosis of 30 min duration showed early release of renin from the innervated kidney at a time (5 min) when little release occurred from the denervated one.
  • (17) She loved us and we loved her.” “We would have loved to have had a little grandchild from her,” she says sadly.
  • (18) Likewise, they had little or no effects on the fluorescence anisotropy of TMA-DPH, which is also thought to be located in the interfacial region of the lipid bilayer, either when the probe was located in the outer layer of the plasma membrane or when the probe was located in the inner membrane compartment.
  • (19) Stimulation with these electrodes were effective for inducing voiding with little residual volume after the recovery of bladder reflexes, 3 weeks after experimental spinal cord injury in the dog.
  • (20) Technical manipulations to improve resolution were time consuming and added little to the accuracy of the test.