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The symbol lemniscate or lying 8 is most known from Mathematics, where it stands for infinity.
The origin is uncertain. The most used story is that it originates from latin word lemniscate, that means ribbon. With some imagination you can recognise a twisted ribbon in the shape of an 8 from the symbol.
The symbol is however hardly traceable in ancient times. This is why the symbol seems rather “young”. The first use of the symbol for infinty, by mathematician John Wallis, was not until the 17th century.
