English → Latin
“indefinite” in Latin
incertusuncertain, doubtful, not sure, unsure; not knowing, doubting (said of persons); not known, obscure (said of things)dubiusMoving in two directions alternately, vibrating to and fro, fluctuating, wavering; Vacillating in mind, wavering, uncertambiguusgoing two ways, hither and thither, moving from side-to-side; hybrid; changing, fluctuating, waveringverbumword; proverb, saying; verbōrāculumA divine announcement, oracle.; A prophetic declaration; prophecy.; A place where oracular responses were given; oracle.indēfīnītusindefinitegrammaticusof or pertaining to the study of language, of literature and grammar; linguistic, philological, grammatical
The English word indefinite itself goes back to Latin fīniō, through indēfīnītus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
indefinite
incertus (uncertain): dubius (doubtful): suspensus et obscurus (uncertain, dark, etc.; e.g., verba, Tac., Ann., 1, 10, 2): ambiguus (capable of two meanings; oracula). The indefinite pronoun, pronomen infinitum or indefinitum (Grammaticus).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for indefinite?
- The usual Latin words for “indefinite” are incertus, dubius, ambiguus; also verbum, ōrāculum, indēfīnītus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.