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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Indeterminate \In'de*ter"mi*nate\, adjective [L. indeterminatus.] Not determinate; not certain or fixed; indefinite; not precise; as, an indeterminate number of years. --Paley.
{Indeterminate analysis} (Math.), that branch of analysis which has for its object the solution of indeterminate problems.
{Indeterminate coefficients} (Math.), coefficients arbitrarily assumed for convenience of calculation, or to facilitate some artifice of analysis. Their values are subsequently determined.
{Indeterminate equation} (Math.), an equation in which the unknown quantities admit of an infinite number of values, or sets of values. A group of equations is indeterminate when it contains more unknown quantities than there are equations.
{Indeterminate inflorescence} (Bot.), a mode of inflorescence in which the flowers all arise from axillary buds, the terminal bud going on to grow and sometimes continuing the stem indefinitely; -- called also {acropetal inflorescence}, {botryose inflorescence}, {centripetal inflorescence}, and {indefinite inflorescence}. --Gray.
{Indeterminate problem} (Math.), a problem which admits of an infinite number of solutions, or one in which there are fewer imposed conditions than there are unknown or required results.
{Indeterminate quantity} (Math.), a quantity which has no fixed value, but which may be varied in accordance with any proposed condition.
{Indeterminate series} (Math.), a series whose terms proceed by the powers of an indeterminate quantity, sometimes also with indeterminate exponents, or indeterminate coefficients. -- {In'de*ter"mi*nate*ly} adverb -- {In'de*ter"mi*nate*ness}, noun
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
indeterminate
adjective
1: not precisely determined or established; not fixed or known in advance; "of indeterminate age"; "a zillion is a large indeterminate number"; "an indeterminate point of law"; "the influence of environment is indeterminate"; "an indeterminate future" [syn: {undetermined}] [ant: {determinate}]
2: having a capacity for continuing to grow at the apex; "an indeterminate stem" [ant: {determinate}]
3: of uncertain or ambiguous nature; "the equivocal (or indeterminate) objects painted by surrealists"
4: not capable of being determined; "the indeterminate number of plant species in the jungle"
5: not leading to a definite ending or result; "an indeterminate campaign"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
100 Moby Thesaurus words for "indeterminate": abstract, accidental, adventitious, aleatoric, aleatory, amorphic, amorphous, anarchic, baggy, bland, blind, blobby, blurred, blurry, broad, casual, causeless, chance, chancy, chaotic, characterless, clear as mud, cloudy, collective, confused, contingent, dark, destinal, dicey, dim, disordered, disorderly, fatal, fatidic, featureless, fluky, foggy, formless, fortuitous, fuzzy, general, generalized, generic, hazy, hit-or-miss, iffy, ill-defined, imprecise, inaccurate, inchoate, incidental, incoherent, indecisive, indefinable, indefinite, indeterminable, indistinct, inexact, inform, kaleidoscopic, lax, loose, lumpen, misty, muddy, murky, nebulous, neutral, nondescript, nonspecific, obscure, opaque, orderless, random, risky, shadowed forth, shadowy, shapeless, stochastic, sweeping, transcendent, uncaused, uncharacterized, unclear, undefined, undestined, undetermined, undifferentiated, unexpected, unforeseeable, unforeseen, unlooked-for, unordered, unorganized, unplain, unpredictable, unspecified, vague, veiled, wide
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