von Neumann integer

mathematics A finite von Neumann ordinal.

The von Neumann integer N is a finite set with N elements

which are the von Neumann integers 0 to N-1. Thus

0 = =

1 = 0 = {}

2 = 0, 1 = {, {}}

3 = 0, 1, 2 = {, {}, {, {}}}

...

The set of von Neumann integers is infinite, even though

each of its elements is finite.

[Origin of name?]

(1995-03-30)