FINITE. — That which has an end, i.e., a limit in any order. A finite number is obtained when it results from the repeated addition of the same unit; a finite quantity, in the order of spatial or temporal magnitudes, when it is measurable by finite numbers (the infinite is indefinite). In the ontological order, every material substance is finite, having its form limited by matter; every created substance is finite in the order of being insofar as it is a participation in the infinite perfection of the divine essence. Therefore, the finite can have as its contrary both the positive (v.) infinite and the negative infinite.
FINITO
