'Indefinite term' definitions:

Definition of 'Indefinite term'

From: GCIDE
  • Indefinite \In*def"i*nite\, a. [L. indefinitus. See In- not, and Definite.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. Not definite; not limited, defined, or specified; not explicit; not determined or fixed upon; not precise; uncertain; vague; confused; obscure; as, an indefinite time, plan, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • It were to be wished that . . . men would leave off that indefinite way of vouching, "the chymists say this," or "the chymists affirm that." --Boyle. [1913 Webster]
  • The time of this last is left indefinite. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Having no determined or certain limits; large and unmeasured, though not infinite; unlimited; as, indefinite space; the indefinite extension of a straight line. [1913 Webster]
  • Though it is not infinite, it may be indefinite; though it is not boundless in itself, it may be so to human comprehension. --Spectator. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Boundless; infinite. [R.] [1913 Webster]
  • Indefinite and omnipresent God, Inhabiting eternity. --W. Thompson (1745). [1913 Webster]
  • 4. (Bot.) Too numerous or variable to make a particular enumeration important; -- said of the parts of a flower, and the like. Also, indeterminate. [1913 Webster]
  • Indefinite article (Gram.), the word a or an, used with nouns to denote any one of a common or general class.
  • Indefinite inflorescence. (Bot.) See {Indeterminate inflorescence}, under Indeterminate.
  • Indefinite proposition (Logic), a statement whose subject is a common term, with nothing to indicate distribution or nondistribution; as, Man is mortal.
  • Indefinite term (Logic), a negative term; as, the not-good.
  • Syn: Inexplicit; vague; uncertain; unsettled; indeterminate; loose; equivocal; inexact; approximate. [1913 Webster]