different between imaginary vs indefinite
imaginary
English
Etymology
From Middle French imaginaire, from Latin im?gin?rius (“relating to images, fancied”), from im?g?.
The mathematical sense derives from René Descartes's use (of the French imaginaire) in 1637, La Geometrie, to ridicule the notion of regarding non-real roots of polynomials as numbers. Although Descartes' usage was derogatory, the designation stuck even after the concept gained acceptance in the 18th century.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /??mæd??n(?)?i/
- (General American) IPA(key): /??mæd???n??i/
Adjective
imaginary (comparative more imaginary, superlative most imaginary)
- Existing only in the imagination.
- Wilt thou add to all the griefs I suffer / Imaginary ills and fancied tortures?
- (mathematics, of a number) Having no real part; that part of a complex number which is a multiple of (called imaginary unit).
Synonyms
- (existing only in the imagination): all in one's head
Derived terms
- imaginarily
- imaginariness
- imaginarity
- imaginary number
- imaginary unit
Translations
Noun
imaginary (plural imaginaries)
- Imagination; fancy. [from 16th c.]
- 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 324:
- By then too Mozart's opera, from Da Ponte's libretto, had made Figaro a stock character in the European imaginary and set the whole Continent whistling Mozartian airs and chuckling at Figaresque humour.
- 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 324:
- (mathematics) An imaginary quantity. [from 18th c.]
- (sociology) The set of values, institutions, laws, and symbols common to a particular social group and the corresponding society through which people imagine their social whole.
References
imaginary From the web:
- what imaginary line
- what imaginary lines are based on the equator
- what imaginary numbers
- what imaginary mean
- what imaginary lines of latitude and longitude
- what imaginary numbers are used for
- what imaginary animal am i
- what imaginary creature are you quiz
indefinite
English
Etymology
From Late Latin ind?f?n?tus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?n?d?f?n?t/
- Hyphenation: in?def?i?nite
Adjective
indefinite (comparative more indefinite, superlative most indefinite)
- Without limit; forever, or until further notice; not definite.
- Vague or unclear.
- Undecided or uncertain.
- (mathematics) Being an integral without specified limits.
- (linguistics) Designating an unspecified or unidentified person or thing or group of persons or things
- the indefinite article
Synonyms
- (without limit): unlimited, unrestricted
- (vague or unclear): hazy; see also Thesaurus:indistinct or Thesaurus:vague
- (undecided or uncertain): indeterminate, unsettled, indecisive, unsure
- (an integral without specified limits):
- (designating an unspecified thing):
Derived terms
- indefinitely
- indefinite article
- indefiniteness
- indef
Related terms
- indeterminate
Translations
Noun
indefinite (plural indefinites)
- (grammar) A word or phrase that designates an unspecified or unidentified person or thing or group of persons or things.
Italian
Adjective
indefinite f pl
- feminine plural of indefinito
Latin
Adjective
ind?f?n?te
- vocative masculine singular of ind?f?n?tus
References
- indefinite in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- indefinite in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
indefinite From the web:
- what indefinite article
- what indefinitely mean
- what indefinite articles in spanish
- what indefinite article goes with reloj
- what indefinite article goes with corazón
- what indefinite article goes with camisas
- what indefinite pronouns are always singular
- what indefinite pronoun
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