<P> The shape of a sideways figure eight has a long pedigree ; for instance , it appears in the cross of Saint Boniface , wrapped around the bars of a Latin cross . However , John Wallis is credited with introducing the infinity symbol with its mathematical meaning in 1655 , in his De sectionibus conicis . Wallis did not explain his choice of this symbol , but it has been conjectured to be a variant form of a Roman numeral for 1,000 ( originally CIƆ , also CƆ ) , which was sometimes used to mean `` many '' , or of the Greek letter ω ( omega ) , the last letter in the Greek alphabet . </P>
what is the origin of the infinity symbol
John Wallis is credited with introducing the infinity symbol with its mathematical meaning in 1655 , in his De sectionibus conicis