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.

   Your account will be suspended for an indefinite period of time.

   • 2012 September 12, Charlie Savage, “Judge Rules Against Law on Indefinite Detention”, in The New York Times‎:

     A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the government from enforcing a controversial statute about the indefinite detention without trial of terrorism suspects.

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.

   Don't forget to add the +C when calculating indefinite integrals.

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) German: unbegrenzt (de), unbestimmt (de) Greek: αόριστος (el) m (aóristos), ακαθόριστος (el) m (akathóristos) Hungarian: határozatlan (hu), korlátlan (hu) Italian: indefinito (it) Latin: indēfīnītus Occitan: indefinit (oc) 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) German: vage (de), unklar (de) 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) German: unentschieden (de), unsicher (de) 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) Czech: neurčitý Danish: ubestemt (da) Finnish: määrittelemätön (fi) German: unbestimmt (de) 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) Danish: please add this translation if you can 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.