INDETERMINATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does indeterminate mean? 

• INDETERMINATE (adjective)
  The adjective INDETERMINATE has 5 senses:

1. not precisely determined or established; not fixed or known in advance

2. having a capacity for continuing to grow at the apex

3. of uncertain or ambiguous nature

4. (of a quantity) having no definite value, as an equation that cannot be solved

5. not leading to a definite ending or result

  Familiarity information: INDETERMINATE used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INDETERMINATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not precisely determined or established; not fixed or known in advance

Synonyms:

indeterminate; undetermined

Context example:

an indeterminate future

Similar:

cost-plus (determining payment based on the actual cost of production plus an agreed-upon fee or rate of profit)

open-ended (allowing for a spontaneous response)

Also:

uncertain (not established beyond doubt; still undecided or unknown)

inconclusive (not conclusive; not putting an end to doubt or question)

indeterminable; undeterminable (not capable of being definitely decided or ascertained)

Antonym:

determinate (precisely determined or limited or defined; especially fixed by rule or by a specific and constant cause)

Derivation:

indeterminateness (the quality of being vague and poorly defined)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Having a capacity for continuing to grow at the apex

Context example:

an indeterminate stem

Similar:

racemose (having stalked flowers along an elongated stem that continue to open in succession from below as the stem continues to grow)

Domain category:

botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)

Antonym:

determinate (not continuing to grow indefinitely at the apex)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Of uncertain or ambiguous nature

Context example:

the equivocal (or indeterminate) objects painted by surrealists

Similar:

ambiguous; equivocal (open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead)

Derivation:

indeterminateness (the quality of being vague and poorly defined)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(of a quantity) having no definite value, as an equation that cannot be solved

Context example:

0/0 is an indeterminate form

Similar:

indeterminable; undeterminable (not capable of being definitely decided or ascertained)

Domain category:

math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)

Derivation:

indeterminateness (the quality of being vague and poorly defined)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Not leading to a definite ending or result

Context example:

an indeterminate campaign

Similar:

inconclusive (not conclusive; not putting an end to doubt or question)

Derivation:

indeterminateness (the quality of being vague and poorly defined)

 Context examples 

A classification scheme in which gastric adenocarcinomas are separated into diffuse adenocarcinoma, intestinal type adenocarcinoma, mixed adenocarcinoma, or indeterminate type adenocarcinoma.

(Lauren Classification, NCI Thesaurus)

An electrocardiographic finding showing an injury of indeterminate age in leads corresponding to the anatomic region of the right ventricular wall of the heart.

(Old or Age Indeterminate Right Ventricular Myocardial Infarction by ECG Finding, NCI Thesaurus)

The test is considered positive if two or more proteins react and indeterminate if only one positive band is detected.

(HIV Western Blot, NCI Thesaurus)

The immunoblot is considered positive if two or more proteins react and indeterminate if only one positive band is detected.

(Hepatitis C Virus Recombinant Immonoblot Assay, NCI Thesaurus)

A rabbit that is derived from a cross between two different New Zealand strains of determinate or indeterminate coat genotype.

(New Zealand Hybrid Rabbit, NCI Thesaurus)

They talked long, and to little purpose, in conclusion agreeing to wait an indeterminate time without doing anything.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Three were short-haired pointers, one was a Newfoundland, and the other two were mongrels of indeterminate breed.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

It includes Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and colitis of indeterminate type.

(Inflammatory bowel disease, NCI Thesaurus)

Indeterminate fetal heart rate pattern.

(Indeterminate Continuous Cardiotocography Pattern, NCI Thesaurus)

Sequences are represented in the standard IUB/IUPAC single letter amino acid and nucleic acid codes, with a single hyphen or dash being used to represent a gap of indeterminate length; in amino acid sequences asterix (*) can represent a translation stop.

(FASTA Format, NCI Thesaurus)