indeterminable, a. (n.)
(ɪndɪˈtɜːmɪnəb(ə)l)
[ad. L. indēterminābilis (Tertullian): see determinable. Cf. F. indéterminable (1753 in Hatz.-Darm.).]
Not determinable.
† 1. Incapable of being limited or bounded in respect of range, number, etc. Obs. rare.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. A v, Ther ben ix. vices contrari to gentilmen of the wiche v. ben indetermynable and iiij determynable. The v indetermynable ben theys: oon to be full of slowthe in his werris [etc.]. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. i. Ad sect. 3 §11 His memory is indeterminable and unalterable, ever remembring to do us good. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xvii. §11 Conceiving ourselves to be, as it were, in the center [of space], we do on all sides pursue those indeterminable lines of number. |
2. Of disputes, difficulties, etc.: Incapable of being decided or settled.
| 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xvi. §87. 846 In Monarchies..where lineall succession is the rule of inheritance, there somtimes fal out as great and as indeterminable difficulties, as where Election designeth the Successor. 1651 Hobbes Govt. & Soc. xvii. §27. 334 The controversies which rise among them will become innumerable, and indeterminable. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iv. §32. 333 Were the whole question to be determined by the old Testament alone, it would be at present for us indeterminable. |
3. Incapable of being definitely fixed or ascertained.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. i. 273 As its [the world's] period is inscrutable, so is its nativity indeterminable. 1798 W. Mavor Brit. Tourists V. 31 Veins of rock run into the sea to an indeterminable distance. 1881 Westcott & Hort Grk. N.T. Introd. §13 The gain or loss..is from the nature of the case indeterminable. |
b. Nat. Hist. Of which the species, or place in classification, cannot be determined.
| 1848 Owen in Times 11 Nov., Of any large marine nondescript or indeterminable monster they [the museums of Scandinavia] cannot shew a trace. |
B. as n. An indeterminable point or problem.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vii. i. 340 To condemne such indeterminables, unto him that demanded on what hand Venus was wounded, the Philosopher thought it a sufficient resolution to reinquire upon what leg King Philip halted. |
Hence indeˈterminableness, the quality of being indeterminable.
| In mod. Dicts. |