indefinite

English

Etymology

From Late Latin indēfīnītus.

Morphologically in- +‎ definite.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈdɛfɪnɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧def‧i‧nite

Adjective

indefinite (comparative more indefinite, superlative most indefinite)

1. Without limit; forever, or until further notice; not definite.
2. Vague or unclear.

   She gave an indefinite answer which nobody really understood.

3. Undecided or uncertain.

   I'm still indefinite about what I'm going to study at college.

4. (mathematics) Being an integral without specified limits.
5. (linguistics) Designating an unspecified or unidentified person or thing or group of persons or things

   the indefinite article

Synonyms

• (without limit): unlimited, unrestricted
• (vague or unclear): hazy; see also Thesaurus:indistinct or Thesaurus:vague
• (undecided or uncertain): indeterminate, unsettled, indecisive, unsure
• (an integral without specified limits):
• (designating an unspecified thing):

Derived terms

• indef
• indefinite adjective
• indefinite article
• indefinite call sign
• indefinite integral
• indefinitely
• indefiniteness
• indefinite pronoun

 

Related terms

• indeterminate

Translations

without limit; forever, or until further notice; not definite

• Bulgarian: неограничен (bg) (neograničen)
• Catalan: indefinit (ca)
• Czech: neurčitý
• Danish: ubestemt (da)
• Finnish: epämääräinen (fi), ääretön (fi), määrittelemätön (fi)
• Greek: αόριστος (el) m (aóristos), ακαθόριστος (el) m (akathóristos)
• Hungarian: határozatlan (hu), korlátlan (hu)
• Italian: indefinito (it)
• Latin: indēfīnītus
• Occitan: indefinit
• Polish: nieokreślony (pl) m, nieograniczony (pl) m, bezterminowy (pl)
• Romansch: indefinit
• Russian: неограни́ченный (ru) (neograníčennyj), бесконе́чный (ru) (beskonéčnyj), безграни́чный (ru) (bezgraníčnyj)
• Swedish: obestämd (sv)
• Tagalog: dituring

vague or unclear

• Bulgarian: неясен (bg) (nejasen)
• Catalan: indefinit (ca)
• Czech: neurčitý
• Danish: uklar
• Finnish: epämääräinen (fi), ylimalkainen (fi)
• Greek: αόριστος (el) m (aóristos)
• Hungarian: bizonytalan (hu)
• Italian: indefinito (it)
• Navajo: haashį́į́
• Plautdietsch: onbestemt
• Polish: nieokreślony (pl) m, niewyraźny (pl) m
• Russian: неопределённый (ru) (neopredeljónnyj), нея́сный (ru) (nejásnyj)
• Swedish: oklar (sv)

undecided or uncertain

• Bulgarian: неопределен (bg) (neopredelen)
• Catalan: indefinit (ca)
• Danish: ubestemt (da)
• Finnish: epämääräinen (fi), epävarma (fi)
• Greek: ακαθόριστος (el) m (akathóristos)
• Hungarian: bizonytalan (hu)
• Italian: indefinito (it)
• Latvian: nenoteikts
• Navajo: haashį́į́
• Russian: неопределённый (ru) (neopredeljónnyj)
• Swedish: obestämd (sv)

an integral without specified limits

• Bulgarian: неопределен (bg) (neopredelen)
• Catalan: indefinit (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不定 (zh) (bùdìng)

• Danish: ubestemt (da)
• Finnish: määrittelemätön (fi)
• Hungarian: határozatlan (hu)
• Japanese: 不定 (ja) (futei)
• Polish: nieoznaczona f
• Russian: неопределённый (ru) (neopredeljónnyj)
• Swedish: obestämd (sv)

(linguistics) designating an unspecified or unidentified person or thing

• Arabic: نَكِرَة‎ f (nakira)
• Bulgarian: неопределителен (neopredelitelen)
• Catalan: indefinit (ca)
• German: unbestimmt (de)
• Hungarian: határozatlan (hu)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: неодређен

  Roman: neodređen (sh)

• Spanish: indefinido (es)
• Swedish: obestämd (sv)

Noun

indefinite (plural indefinites)

1. (grammar) A word or phrase that designates an unspecified or unidentified person or thing or group of persons or things.

Italian

Adjective

indefinite f pl

1. feminine plural of indefinito

Latin

Adjective

indēfīnīte

1. vocative masculine singular of indēfīnītus

References

• “indefinite”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• indefinite in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette