/as"im toht'/ , n. Math.
a straight line approached by a given curve as one of the variables in the equation of the curve approaches infinity.
[ 1650-60; asýmptotos, equiv. to a- A- 6 + sýmptotos falling together ( sym- SYM- + ptotós falling, deriv. of pto-, var. s. of píptein to fall + -tos verbid suffix) ]