Indeterminate meaning

ĭn'dĭ-tûr'mə-nĭt
The definition of indeterminate is something vague or not established.

When no one is sure what caused a fire to start, this is an example of when the cause is indeterminate.

When you add a pinch of sugar to a recipe but there's no set amount, this is an example of when the amount is indeterminate.

When a person is on probation until his behavior indicates he has become a law abiding citizen, this is an example of an indeterminate sentence.

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Not terminating in a flower and continuing to grow at the apex.

An indeterminate inflorescence.

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Having more than one variable and an infinite number of solutions, such as the equation 5 x2 + 3 y = 10.
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Not determinate.
  • Inexact in its limits, nature, etc.; indefinite; uncertain; vague.
    An indeterminate amount.
  • Not yet settled, concluded, or known; doubtful or inconclusive.
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Continuing to grow at the apical meristem or the terminal bud indefinitely, allowing for the development of an ever-increasing number of plant organs such as leaves, stems, or flowers to the side.
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(biology) Of growth: with no genetically defined end, and thus theoretically limitless.
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(botany) Of inflorescences: not topped with some form of terminal bud.
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Origin of indeterminate

  • Middle English from Latin indēterminātus in- not in–1 dēterminātus determined determinate
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Indeterminate Sentence Examples

  • There is no recognition whatever of the principle of the indeterminate sentence.

  • But the bulk of the work consists of problems leading to indeterminate equations of the second degree, and these universally take the form that one or two (and never more) linear or quadratic functions of one variable x are to be made rational square numbers by finding a suitable value for x.

  • 55) Passover are established, with two indeterminate notices (iv.

  • All that can be said at present about this difficult etymology is that in the non-Semitic Babylonian the medial m represented quite evidently an indeterminate nasal which could also be indicated by the combination rig.

  • Matter is the basework of each /3600s j it is the dark principle, the indeterminate, that which has no qualities, the µz 7 6v.

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Words near indeterminate in the Dictionary