Asymptotic

The term asymptotic means approaching a value or curve arbitrarily closely (i.e., as some sort of limit is taken). A line or curve that is asymptotic to given curve is called the asymptote of .

Hardy and Wright (1979, p. 7) use the symbol to denote that one quantity is asymptotic to another. If , then Hardy and Wright say that and are of the same order of magnitude.