from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Indefinite \In*def"i*nite\, a. [L. indefinitus. See {In-} not,
and {Definite}.]
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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.
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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.
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The time of this last is left indefinite. --Dryden.
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2. Having no determined or certain limits; large and
unmeasured, though not infinite; unlimited; as, indefinite
space; the indefinite extension of a straight line.
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Though it is not infinite, it may be indefinite;
though it is not boundless in itself, it may be so
to human comprehension. --Spectator.
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3. Boundless; infinite. [R.]
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Indefinite and omnipresent God,
Inhabiting eternity. --W. Thompson
(1745).
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4. (Bot.) Too numerous or variable to make a particular
enumeration important; -- said of the parts of a flower,
and the like. Also, indeterminate.
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{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.
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