CardinalityIn mathematics, the cardinality of a set is a measure of the number of elements of the set. For example, the set contains 3 elements, and therefore has a cardinality of 3. Beginning in the late 19th century, this concept was generalized to infinite sets, which allows one to distinguish between different types of infinity, and to perform arithmetic on them. There are two approaches to cardinality: one which compares sets directly using bijections and injections, and another which uses cardinal numbers.
Family of setsIn set theory and related branches of mathematics, a collection of subsets of a given set is called a family of subsets of , or a family of sets over More generally, a collection of any sets whatsoever is called a family of sets, set family, or a set system. A family of sets may be defined as a function from a set , known as the index set, to , in which case the sets of the family are indexed by members of .
Cardinal numberIn mathematics, a cardinal number, or cardinal for short, is what is commonly called the number of elements of a set. In the case of a finite set, its cardinal number, or cardinality is therefore a natural number. For dealing with the case of infinite sets, the infinite cardinal numbers have been introduced, which are often denoted with the Hebrew letter (aleph) marked with subscript indicating their rank among the infinite cardinals. Cardinality is defined in terms of bijective functions.
Category of setsIn the mathematical field of , the category of sets, denoted as Set, is the whose are sets. The arrows or morphisms between sets A and B are the total functions from A to B, and the composition of morphisms is the composition of functions. Many other categories (such as the , with group homomorphisms as arrows) add structure to the objects of the category of sets and/or restrict the arrows to functions of a particular kind.
DefinitionA definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definitions (which try to list the objects that a term describes). Another important category of definitions is the class of ostensive definitions, which convey the meaning of a term by pointing out examples. A term may have many different senses and multiple meanings, and thus require multiple definitions.