Indeterminate

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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: {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"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  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.