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indeterminate
[ in-di-tur-muh-nit ]
adjective
- not determinate; not precisely fixed in extent; indefinite; uncertain.
- not clear; vague.
Synonyms: ambiguous
- not established.
- not settled or decided.
- Mathematics.
- (of a quantity) undefined, as 0/0.
- (of an equation) able to be satisfied by more than one value for each unknown.
- Botany. (of an inflorescence) having the axis or axes not ending in a flower or bud, thus allowing further elongation.
noun
- Mathematics. something whose value is not specified: used especially in abstract algebra; a variable.
indeterminate
/ ˌɪndɪˈtɜːmɪnɪt /
adjective
- uncertain in extent, amount, or nature
- not definite; inconclusive
an indeterminate reply
- unable to be predicted, calculated, or deduced
- physics (of an effect) not obeying the law of causality; noncausal
- maths
- having no numerical meaning, as 0.00 or 0/0
- (of an equation) having more than one variable and an unlimited number of solutions
- botany another word for indefinite
- (of a structure, framework, etc) comprising forces that cannot be fully analysed, esp by vector analysis
indeterminate
/ ĭn′dĭ-tûr′mə-nĭt /
- Continuing to grow at the apical meristem or the terminal bud indefinitely, allowing for the development of an ever-increasing number of plant organs such as leaves, stems, or flowers to the side.
Derived Forms
- ˌindeˈterminately, adverb
- ˌindeˈterminacy, noun
Other Words From
- inde·termi·nate·ly adverb
- inde·termi·nate·ness noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of indeterminate1
Example Sentences
Counting down the moments they have left with Abdullah, always an indeterminate amount.
Some gospel music, like Blind Willie Johnson's, chronicles an indeterminate journey to an unknown destination.
First, Troy depicts the cemetery as having indeterminate and ever-shifting borders.
Before that its landscape had been indeterminate—there were even strips where the Kat goes to sea.
Precisely who would bear the brunt of $400 billion in proposed cuts in military spending was left indeterminate.
I had wondered at that indeterminate quotient in my sums, where the same figure came, always the same, running on and on.
Full of whims and fancies, unstable, indeterminate, he was swayed by every passing emotion and influence.
Like the Board of Guardians, it is a most useful body; but its influence upon village life is indirect and indeterminate.
She found the word indicating to whom degrees should be granted indeterminate, with no character of sex attached to it.
Matter in a more general sense is the indeterminate, the indefinite and the potential.
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