adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective
ambiguus
ambiguus (feminine ambigua, neuter ambiguum, adverb ambiguē)
Classical[amˈbɪ.ɡu.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[amˈbiː.ɡu.us]
Meaning
- adjectivegoing two ways, hither and thither, moving from side-to-side
- adjectivehybrid
- adjectivechanging, fluctuating, wavering
- adjectiveuncertain, doubtful, undecided, indecisive
- adjectiveobscure, ambiguous
- adjectivefigurativelywavering, not to be relied on, untrustworthy, unreliable, treacherous
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
duōs sēnsūs habēnsambiguus -a -um — in IVLIANVS I: Gallia, ch. 19
dubius, in utramque partemambiguus -a -um — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 7
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Dubius · Ambiguus · Anceps
Dubius (δοιός) and ambiguus (ἀμφὶς ἔχων) denote doubt, with reference to success or failure, fortune or misfortune; anceps, with reference to existence itself, to the being or not being. Vell. Pat. ii. 79. Ea patrando bello mora fuit, quod postea dubia et interdum ancipiti fortuna gestum est. Tac. Ann. iv. 73. (v. 282.)
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | ambiguus | ambigua | ambiguum |
| genitive | ambiguī | ambiguae | ambiguī |
| dative | ambiguō | ambiguae | ambiguō |
| accusative | ambiguum | ambiguam | ambiguum |
| ablative | ambiguō | ambiguā | ambiguō |
| vocative | ambigue | ambigua | ambiguum |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | ambiguī | ambiguae | ambigua |
| genitive | ambiguōrum | ambiguārum | ambiguōrum |
| dative | ambiguīs | ambiguīs | ambiguīs |
| accusative | ambiguōs | ambiguās | ambigua |
| ablative | ambiguīs | ambiguīs | ambiguīs |
| vocative | ambiguī | ambiguae | ambigua |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- prisca, obsoleta (opp. usitata), ambigua verba
- obsolete, ambiguous expressions.
ambĭgŭus, a, um, adj. ambigo,
I. going about, hither and thither.
I. Lit.:
per ambiguum favorem gratiam victoris spectare, i. e. in that they show equal friendliness to both sides, Liv. 21, 52: ambiguus Proteus, who sometimes takes one form, sometimes another, changeable, Ov. M. 2, 9: ambiguus fuerit, modo vir, modo femina, Scython, id. ib. 4, 280: Inque virum soliti vultus mutare ferinos Ambigui prosecta lupi, they sometimes assume the form of a wolf and sometimes that of a man, id. ib. 7, 271: promisit Ambiguam Salamina, h. l. = alteram, a second Salamis, Hor. C. 1, 7, 29. —II. Transf.
A. Uncertain, doubtful (syn.: dubius, incertus): ambiguum est quod in ambas agi partes animo potest. Hujusmodi apud Graecos ἀμφίβολα dicuntur, Paul. ex Fest. p. 17 Müll.:
quidquid incerti mihi in animo prius aut ambiguom fuit, Nunc liquet, nunc defaecatum est, Plaut. Ps. 2, 4, 69: etiam si dudum fuerat ambiguom hoc mihi, * Ter. Hec. 4, 4, 26: difficile et ambiguum, Vulg. Deut. 17, 8: haud ambiguus rex, i. e. sine dubio rex futurus, Liv. 40, 8.—Subst.: ambĭgŭum, i, n., doubt, uncertainty: in ambiguo est, Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 193: in ambiguo relinquere, Lucr. 4, 1133: non habui ambiguum, Brut. ap. Cic. Fam. 11, 11: servet in ambiguo Juppiter, Hor. Ep. 1, 16, 28: non sane alias magis in ambiguo Britannia fuit, Tac. Agr. 5.—Also in acc. absol. in the Gr. manner: Ambiguum Clymene precibus Phaëthontis an irā Mota magis, it being uncertain whether, etc., Ov. M. 1, 765 (so, incertum, Tac. Agr. 7: dubium, id. A. 1, 5).—B. Of discourse, obscure, dark, ambiguous:
scriptum, Cic. Top. 25: verba ambigua distinximus, id. Or. 29, 102: oracula, id. Div. 2, 56: responsa, Suet. Tib. 24: divinatio, Vulg. Ezech. 12, 24.—Subst.: ambĭgŭum, i, n., an obscure, dark saying: ambiguorum complura sunt genera, Cic. de Or. 2, 26, 111; 2, 61, 250; Auct. ad Her. 1, 6; 1, 12 al.: voces, Verg. A. 2, 98.—C. Trop., uncertain, wavering; not to be relied on, untrustworthy. —So of moral conduct:
esse ambiguā fide, Liv. 6, 2: puer acris ingenii sed ambigui, Plin. Ep. 4, 2: femina bonis atque honestis moribus, non ambiguā pudicitiā, Gell. 3, 16: per ambiguas vias, Ov. H. 10, 62: domum timet ambiguam Tyriosque bilinguis, Verg. A 1, 661.—Of fortune, changing, fluctuating: ambiguarum rerum sciens, Tac. A. 1, 64.!*? In Tac. with gen.: ambiguus imperandi, irresolute, Tac. A. 1, 7: pudoris ac metus, wavering between shame and fear, id. ib. 2, 40: futuri, id. H. 3, 43.—Adv.: ambĭguē, doubtfully, ambiguously, Cic. de Or. 2, 26; id. N. D. 1, 31; Aur. Vict. 35: pugnare, with doubtful success, Tac. A. 2, 21 al.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
ambiguus adj.
ambi + 1 AG-, going two ways, wavering, uncertain: per ambiguum favorem gratiam victoris spectare, by showing equal favor to both sides, L.: Proteus, assuming different forms, O.: Ambiguam tellure novā Salamina futuram, i. e. the name would be of double application, H.— Fig., wavering, vacillating, uncertain, doubtful: si dudum fuerat ambiguom hoc mihi, T.: haud ambiguus rex, L.: Ambiguum Clymene precibus Phaëthontis, an irā Mota magis, uncertain whether, O.: imperandi, Ta.—Of speech, obscure, dark, ambiguous: verba: oracula. — Of character, uncertain, not trustworthy, doubtful: fides, L.: domus, V. — As subst n., doubt, uncertainty, a dark saying: servet in ambiguo Iuppiter, H.: ambiguorum complura sunt genera.
Origins
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts?
- Latinambiguus
Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰíder. Proto-Italic *amβi- Latin ambi- Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin ambig(ō) Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Italic *-wos Latin -uus Latin ambiguus From ambig(ō) (“wander; waver, hesitate”) + -uus.
Descendants
- Catalanambigu
- Englishambiguous
- Frenchambigu
- Germanambigfrom French ambigu
- Italianambiguo
- Portugueseambíguo
- Romanianambiguu
- Spanishambiguo
- Asturianambiguu
- Dutchambigufrom French ambigu
In English words that came into English from ambiguus
- ambiguousambiguus
- ambiguityambiguitas
- ambiguationambiguus