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# indeterminate

«indeterminate» in Mova's school dictionary: **not exactly known, fixed or clear; vague** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (indeterminate)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Indeterminate means not exactly known, fixed or clear; vague. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indeterminate/#m1)

2) (maths) An indeterminate answer or form is one that cannot be worked out as a single value from the information given. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indeterminate/#m2)

3) (law) An indeterminate sentence is a prison sentence with no fixed end date. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indeterminate/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life «a man of indeterminate age» means you cannot tell how old he is. In maths, a problem is indeterminate when there are many possible answers, for example x + y = 10 with no other clue. In science, an indeterminate colour or shape is hard to name. In stories it adds mystery.

### examples

- He was a man of indeterminate age, maybe forty or sixty. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indeterminate/#x1)
- The dog was a brown of indeterminate shade. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indeterminate/#x2)
- The meeting will last an indeterminate time. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indeterminate/#x3)
- With one equation and two unknowns, the answer is indeterminate. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indeterminate/#x4)
- The judge gave an indeterminate sentence. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indeterminate/#x5)
- A creature of indeterminate shape moved in the fog. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indeterminate/#x6)

### note

Formal. In maths, «indeterminate» means more than one answer is possible or the value cannot be fixed. Compare indeterminable (cannot be found out).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «indeterminate» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/indeterminate/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.