EXPONEN'TIAL, adjective exponential curves are such as partake both of the nature of algebraic and transcendental ones. They partake of the former, because they consist of a finite number of terms, though these terms themselves are indeterminate; and they are in some measure transcendental, because they cannot be algebraically constructed.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI