| 释义 |
indeterminate, a. (n.)|ɪndɪˈtɜːmɪnət|
[ad. L. indētermināt-us (Tertullian): see determinate. Cf. F. indeterminé (14th c., Oresme).]
Not determined; undetermined.
†1. Not definitely set down; undetermined: cf. determinate pa. pple. Obs.
c1391Chaucer Astrol. ii. §17 To knowe the verrey degree of any maner sterre..thow he be indeterminat in thin astralabie.
2. a. Not fixed in extent, number, character or nature; left uncertain as to limits of extent, number, etc.; of uncertain size or character; indefinite, indistinct, uncertain.
1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1334 This indeterminate and troublesome infinity. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxviii. 163 An indeterminate, that is to say, an arbitrary Punishment. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. ii. §9 Numenius..condemns all those, as not understanding Pythagoras, who attribute to him the production of the indeterminate Hyle. 1722Wollaston Relig. Nat. ii. 33 For time, as well as space, is capable of indeterminate division. 1774J. Bryant Mythol. I. 226 Can we believe that they would..choose for a characteristic what was so general and indeterminate? 1782Martyn Geog. Mag. I. 728 Empires of great extent but indeterminate limits. 1805–17R. Jameson Char. Min. (ed. 3) 109 The eight or nine sided prisms afford only accidental or indeterminate varieties. 1831R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 702 This artery gives off twigs of indeterminate number. 1885J. Martineau Types Eth. Th. II. 6 Would it be better..to blur into an indeterminate mess perception, reasoning, imagination, passion?
b. Of statements, thoughts, words, etc.: Not clear and definite; wanting in precision; vague.
1774J. Bryant Mythol. I. 498 His account is very indeterminate and obscure. 1874Jevons Princ. Sc. I. 49 Some is an indeterminate adjective; it implies unknown qualities..but gives no hint as to their nature. 1878C. Stanford Symb. Christ iii. 69 Too often the term ‘Angel’ has for us a cloudy and indeterminate meaning.
c. Math. Of a quantity: Not limited to a fixed value or number of values. (Also absol. as n.) Of a problem: Having an unlimited number of solutions. Also (in Engin.), of a structure or its stresses, = hyperstatic adj. (s.v. hyper- IV): usu. qualified by statically.
indeterminate analysis, the branch of analysis which deals with the solution of indeterminate problems; method of i. coefficients (more properly of undetermined coefficients), a method of analysis invented by Descartes; i. equation, an equation in which the unknown quantities are indeterminate; i. form, a form consisting of two indeterminate quantities; i. series, a series whose terms proceed by the powers of an indeterminate quantity.
1706Phillips s.v. Problem, Such an one as is capable of an infinite number of different solutions..is..called an indeterminate Problem. 1795Hutton Math. Dict. s.v. Series, Indeterminate Series is one whose terms proceed by the powers of an indeterminate quantity x. 1806― Course Math. I. 131 It is obvious..that questions of this sort admit of a great variety of answers..These kinds of questions are called by algebraists indeterminate or unlimited problems. 1812–16Playfair Nat. Phil. (1819) I. 27 No one of them can be indeterminate, or can admit of innumerable values, otherwise V itself would be indeterminate. 1816tr. Lacroix's Diff. & Int. Calculus 143 We may take the successive differentials, by making those of the two indeterminates, which are considered as functions of the third, vary at the same time. 1841J. R. Young Math. Dissert. ii. 34 The equation..becomes indeterminate, and capable of an infinite number of different values. 1882Minchin Unipl. Kinem. 211 At each of these points the value of ψ is indeterminate. 1905I. Hiroi (title) The statically-indeterminate stresses in frames commonly used for bridges. 1919Pippard & Pritchard Aeroplane Struct. xxii. 280 The principle of Least Work..enables the engineer to find the stresses in structures which are statically indeterminate, i.e. in structures with too many members. 1926Parcel & Maney Elem. Treat. Statically Indeterminate Stresses p. v, This book has grown out of the authors' needs in teaching the subject of Indeterminate Structures during the past fifteen years. 1963D. A. Firmage Fund. Theory of Struct. v. 118 A truss can..be determinate, indeterminate, or unstable with respect to the system of bars. 1964J. H. Faupel Engin. Design ii. 130 In a statically indeterminate system the basic equations of statics (σF and σM = o) are insufficient for obtaining a solution.
d. Bot. (a) = indefinite 5 a; (b) of æstivation: see quot. 1880.
1842Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. etc., Indeterminate,..when a stem is never terminated by a flower, nor has its growth stopped by any other organic cause. 1880Gray Struct. Bot. iv. §2. 134 The æstivation is said to be Open or Indeterminate, when the parts do not come into contact in the bud, so as to cover those within. The most familiar case is that of the petals of Mignonette.
e. indeterminate sentence, a sentence in a criminal case which leaves the prisoner's release dependent on his conduct and on the probability of his amendment; indeterminate vowel, the ‘obscure’ vowel |ə|, mid-mixed-wide; = sheva 2.
1873E. C. Wines Rep. Internat. Penitentiary Congr. 1872 xxxviii. 273 It is extremely doubtful whether society will, or could, ever become reconciled to so great a change on the sudden as that from determinate to wholly indeterminate sentences. 1888King & Cookson Princ. Sound & Inflexion Gr. & Latin 70 The same indeterminate vowel appears in Sk., where it is called a svarabhakti vowel. 1894W. M. Lindsay Latin Lang. 257 The obscure or indeterminate vowel (like the Hebrew sh⊇va). 1962Listener 15 Feb. 290/1 Indeterminate sentences have been common in western Europe and the United States for some time. 1972N.Y. Law Jrnl. 14 Nov. 6/5 People, &c., v. Manuel Santos—Indeterminate sentence.
3. Not fixed or established; uncertain.
1626Bacon Sylva §698 The Insecta haue Voluntarie Motion.. And whereas some of the Ancients haue said, that their Motion is Indeterminate, and their Imagination Indefinite, it is negligently obserued. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) I. vi. 268 The place of its sittings, before indeterminate..was fixed at Valladolid. 1842Poe Marie Roget Wks. 1864 I. 233 The period of their rising is, and necessarily must be indeterminate. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. vii, It [harvest] lies all underground, with an indeterminate future.
4. Not settled or decided; left doubtful.
1656Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 191/2 Indeterminate is that which is in our Power, and to which part soever it enclineth, will be true or false. 1678Marvell Def. Howe Wks. 1875 IV. 201 So it will be too if God be to determine it, indeterminate till he have determined it. 1783Martyn Geog. Mag. II. 65 This court, where the law is silent or indeterminate, has a decisive voice. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 216 Meanwhile several millions sterlng had been wasted by both companies in indeterminate conflicts.
5. Not determined by motives (regarded as external forces); acting freely.
1836J. Gilbert Chr. Atonem. iv. (1852) 98 This characteristic of moral action, its indeterminate working. a1871Grote Eth. Fragm. ii, In positive morality, the mandate is conceived as emanating from an indeterminate superior. |