indeterminate

indeterminate
    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"
    

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.
   [1913 Webster]

   {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
      inflorescence}, {botryose inflorescence}, {centripetal
      inflorescence}, and {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.
      [1913 Webster]
    

INDETERMINATE. That which is uncertain or not particularly designated; as, 
if I sell you one hundred bushels of wheat, without stating what wheat. 1 
Bouv. Inst. n. 950. 
    

100 Moby Thesaurus words for "indeterminate":
      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