【医】 无限花序

Indefinite \In*def"i*nite\, a. [L. indefinitus. See {In-} not,
and {Definite}.]
1. Not definite; not limited, defined, or specified; not
explicit; not determined or fixed upon; not precise;
uncertain; vague; confused; obscure; as, an indefinite
time, plan, etc.

It were to be wished that . . . men would leave off
that indefinite way of vouching, ``the chymists say
this,'' or ``the chymists affirm that.'' --Boyle.

The time of this last is left indefinite. --Dryden.

2. Having no determined or certain limits; large and
unmeasured, though not infinite; unlimited; as, indefinite
space; the indefinite extension of a straight line.

Though it is not infinite, it may be indefinite;
though it is not boundless in itself, it may be so
to human comprehension. --Spectator.

3. Boundless; infinite. [R.]

Indefinite and omnipresent God,
Inhabiting eternity. --W. Thompson
(1745).

4. (Bot.) Too numerous or variable to make a particular
enumeration important; -- said of the parts of a flower,
and the like. Also, indeterminate.

{Indefinite article} (Gram.), the word a or an, used with
nouns to denote any one of a common or general class.

{Indefinite inflorescence}. (Bot.) See {Indeterminate
inflorescence}, under {Indeterminate}.

{Indefinite proposition} (Logic), a statement whose subject
is a common term, with nothing to indicate distribution or
nondistribution; as, Man is mortal.

{Indefinite term} (Logic), a negative term; as, the not-good.

Syn: Inexplicit; vague; uncertain; unsettled; indeterminate;
loose; equivocal; inexact; approximate.

Indeterminate \In`de*ter"mi*nate\, a. [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} adv. --
{In`de*ter"mi*nate*ness}, n.