Adjacent Words

Indeterminate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INDETERM'INATE, a. [in and determinate.]
1. Not determinate; not settled or fixed; not definite; uncertain; as an indeterminate number of years.
2. Not certain; not precise.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: not precisely determined or established; not fixed or known in advance; "of indeterminate age"; "a zillion is a large indeterminate number"; "an indeterminate point of law"; "the influence of environment is indeterminate"; "an indeterminate future" [syn: indeterminate, undetermined] [ant: determinate]
2: having a capacity for continuing to grow at the apex; "an indeterminate stem" [ant: determinate]
3: of uncertain or ambiguous nature; "the equivocal (or indeterminate) objects painted by surrealists"
4: not capable of being determined; "the indeterminate number of plant species in the jungle"
5: not leading to a definite ending or result; "an indeterminate campaign"

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English indeterminat, from Late Latin indeterminatus, from Latin in- + determinatus, past participle of determinare to determine Date: 14th century 1. a. not definitely or precisely determined or fixed ; vague b. not known in advance c. not leading to a definite end or result 2. having an infinite number of solutions <a system of indeterminate equations> 3. being one of the seven undefined mathematical expressions 0/0, ?/?, ??0, 1^?, 0º, ?º, ? - ? 4. characterized by sequential flowering from the lateral or basal buds to the central or uppermost buds; also characterized by growth in which the main stem continues to elongate indefinitely without being limited by a terminal inflorescence — compare determinate 4 • indeterminately adverb • indeterminateness noun • indetermination noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 not fixed in extent, character, etc. 2 left doubtful; vague. 3 Math. (of a quantity) not limited to a fixed value by the value of another quantity. 4 (of a judicial sentence) such that the convicted person's conduct determines the date of release. Phrases and idioms: indeterminate vowel the obscure vowel heard in ' a mom ent ago'; a schwa. Derivatives: indeterminacy n. indeterminately adv. indeterminateness n. Etymology: ME f. LL indeterminatus (as IN-(1), DETERMINATE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Indeterminate In`de*ter"mi*nate, a. [L. indeterminatus.] Not determinate; not certain or fixed; indefinite; not precise; as, an indeterminate number of years. --Paley. Indeterminate analysis (Math.), that branch of analysis which has for its object the solution of indeterminate problems. Indeterminate coefficients (Math.), coefficients arbitrarily assumed for convenience of calculation, or to facilitate some artifice of analysis. Their values are subsequently determined. Indeterminate equation (Math.), an equation in which the unknown quantities admit of an infinite number of values, or sets of values. A group of equations is indeterminate when it contains more unknown quantities than there are equations. Indeterminate inflorescence (Bot.), a mode of inflorescence in which the flowers all arise from axillary buds, the terminal bud going on to grow and sometimes continuing the stem indefinitely; -- called also acropetal, botryose, centripetal, & indefinite inflorescence. --Gray. Indeterminate problem (Math.), a problem which admits of an infinite number of solutions, or one in which there are fewer imposed conditions than there are unknown or required results. Indeterminate quantity (Math.), a quantity which has no fixed value, but which may be varied in accordance with any proposed condition. Indeterminate series (Math.), a series whose terms proceed by the powers of an indeterminate quantity, sometimes also with indeterminate exponents, or indeterminate coefficients. -- In`de*ter"mi*nate*ly adv. -- In`de*ter"mi*nate*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If something is indeterminate, you cannot say exactly what it is. I hope to carry on for an indeterminate period. = indefinite ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Indefinite, unfixed, undetermined, uncertain, not settled, not precise.

Moby Thesaurus

abstract, accidental, adventitious, aleatoric, aleatory, amorphic, amorphous, anarchic, baggy, bland, blind, blobby, blurred, blurry, broad, casual, causeless, chance, chancy, chaotic, characterless, clear as mud, cloudy, collective, confused, contingent, dark, destinal, dicey, dim, disordered, disorderly, fatal, fatidic, featureless, fluky, foggy, formless, fortuitous, fuzzy, general, generalized, generic, hazy, hit-or-miss, iffy, ill-defined, imprecise, inaccurate, inchoate, incidental, incoherent, indecisive, indefinable, indefinite, indeterminable, indistinct, inexact, inform, kaleidoscopic, lax, loose, lumpen, misty, muddy, murky, nebulous, neutral, nondescript, nonspecific, obscure, opaque, orderless, random, risky, shadowed forth, shadowy, shapeless, stochastic, sweeping, transcendent, uncaused, uncharacterized, unclear, undefined, undestined, undetermined, undifferentiated, unexpected, unforeseeable, unforeseen, unlooked-for, unordered, unorganized, unplain, unpredictable, unspecified, vague, veiled, wide