- Indefinite term
- Indefinite In*def"i*nite, a. [L. indefinitus. See {In-} not,
and {Definite}.]
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
The time of this last is left indefinite. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
2. Having no determined or certain limits; large and unmeasured, though not infinite; unlimited; as, indefinite space; the indefinite extension of a straight line. [1913 Webster]
Though it is not infinite, it may be indefinite; though it is not boundless in itself, it may be so to human comprehension. --Spectator. [1913 Webster]
3. Boundless; infinite. [R.] [1913 Webster]
Indefinite and omnipresent God, Inhabiting eternity. --W. Thompson (1745). [1913 Webster]
4. (Bot.) Too numerous or variable to make a particular enumeration important; -- said of the parts of a flower, and the like. Also, indeterminate. [1913 Webster]
{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. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
