| has gloss | eng: In set theory, a set is called hereditarily countable if and only if it is a countable set of hereditarily countable sets. This inductive definition is in fact well-founded and can be expressed in the language of first-order set theory. A set is hereditarily countable if and only if it is countable, and every element of its transitive closure is countable. If the axiom of countable choice holds, then a set is hereditarily countable if and only if its transitive closure is countable. |