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indefinite - 4 dictionary results

in⋅def⋅i⋅nite

  [in-def-uh-nit]
Use indefinite in a Sentence
–adjective
1. not definite; without fixed or specified limit; unlimited: an indefinite number.
2. not clearly defined or determined; not precise or exact: an indefinite boundary; an indefinite date in the future.
3. Grammar.
a. indefinite article.
b. indefinite pronoun.
4. Botany.
a. very numerous or not easily counted, as stamens.
b. (of an inflorescence) indeterminate.
Origin:
1520–30; < L indēfīnītus. See in- 3 , definite

Related forms:
in⋅def⋅i⋅nite⋅ly, adverb
in⋅def⋅i⋅nite⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. unspecified; indeterminate. 2. imprecise, inexact, indistinct, confusing, vague, uncertain.

Antonyms:
1, 2. determinate. 2. clear, specific.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To indefinite
in·def·i·nite   (ĭn-děf'ə-nĭt)   
adj.  Not definite, especially:
a. Unclear; vague.
in·def'i·nite·ly adv., in·def'i·nite·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Indefinite

In*def"i*nite\, a. [L. indefinitus. See In- not, and Definite.]

1. Not definite; not limited, defined, or specified; not explicit; not determined or fixed upon; not precise; uncertain; vague; confused; obscure; as, an indefinite time, plan, etc.

It were to be wished that . . . men would leave off that indefinite way of vouching, "the chymists say this," or "the chymists affirm that." --Boyle.

The time of this last is left indefinite. --Dryden.

2. Having no determined or certain limits; large and unmeasured, though not infinite; unlimited; as indefinite space; the indefinite extension of a straight line.

Though it is not infinite, it may be indefinite; though it is not boundless in itself, it may be so to human comprehension. --Spectator.

3. Boundless; infinite. [R.]

Indefinite and omnipresent God, Inhabiting eternity. --W. Thompson (1745).

4. (Bot.) Too numerous or variable to make a particular enumeration important; -- said of the parts of a flower, and the like. Also, indeterminate.

Indefinite article (Gram.), the word a or an, used with nouns to denote any one of a common or general class.

Indefinite inflorescence. (Bot.) See Indeterminate inflorescence, under Indeterminate.

Indefinite proposition (Logic), a statement whose subject is a common term, with nothing to indicate distribution or nondistribution; as, Man is mortal.

Indefinite term (Logic), a negative term; as, the not-good.

Syn: Inexplicit; vague; uncertain; unsettled; indeterminate; loose; equivocal; inexact; approximate.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : indefinite
Spanish: indefinido,
German: unbegrenzt,
Japanese: 不定の
More Translations »

indefinite 
1530, from L. indefinitus, from in- "not" + definitus (see definite).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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