| 释义 |
am·bi·gu·i·ty
\ˌambə̇ˈgyüəd.ē, ˌaam-, -ətē, -i\ noun
(-es)
Etymology: Middle English ambiguite, from Middle French ambiguïté, from Latin ambiguitat-, ambiguitas, from ambiguus + -itat-, -itas -ity
1. obsolete : intellectual uncertainty : doubt
< resolve me of all ambiguities — Christopher Marlowe >
2.
a.
(1) : the condition of admitting of two or more meanings, of being understood in more than one way, or of referring to two or more things at the same time
< their very ambiguity is one source of their use in defense of any measure — John Dewey >
(2) : looseness of signification or reference
< the technical writer must rigorously avoid all ambiguity — C.E.Kellogg >
2.
b.
(1) : uncertainty of meaning or significance or of position in relation to something or somebody else
< a sufficiently detailed account … to remove all ambiguity — P.E.More >
< the social ambiguity of his parents — Lionel Trilling >
(2) : mystery or mysteriousness arising especially from a vague knowledge or understanding
< there was an ambiguity about this young lady — Nathaniel Hawthorne >
3. : the intellectual or emotional interplay or tension resulting from the opposition or contraposing of apparently incompatible or contradictory elements or levels of meaning in a poem or other literary work; especially : the opposition or contraposition of two or more meanings inherent in one word or symbol or in a consistent set of metaphoric or symbolic words
4. : the maintaining of two or more logically incompatible beliefs or attitudes at the same time or alternately : inconsistency resulting from vacillation between two opposing views
< the inner ambiguity in each of us between reason and coercion — T.V.Smith >
5. : an ambiguous word or expression
< a poetical ambiguity depends on the reader's weighting the possible meanings according to their probability — William Empson > |