ambiguous

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts?

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 ambiguuslbor.

English ambiguous

From Latin ambiguus (“moving from side to side, of doubtful nature”), from ambigere (“to go about, wander, doubt”), from ambi- (“around, about, on both sides”) + agere (“to drive, move”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /æmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /æmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs/, [ɛəmˈbɪɡ.ju.əs]

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

• (Australia) IPA^(key): /æmˈbɪɡ.jʉ.əs/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ɛmˈbəɡ.jʉ.əs/
• Rhymes: -ɪɡjuəs
• Hyphenation: am‧bi‧gu‧ous

Adjective

ambiguous (comparative more ambiguous, superlative most ambiguous)

1. Open to multiple interpretations.

   Synonyms: equivocal, unclear; see also Thesaurus:vague

   Antonyms: unambiguous, clear

   The politician was criticized for his ambiguous statements and lack of precision.

2. (obsolete, of a person) Hesitant; uncertain; not taking sides.
   • 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Mathematical collections and translations, in two tomes - Salusbury:

     And forasmuch as in this same question I am ambiguous, and Simplicius is resolute....

Derived terms

• ambiguously
• ambiguousness
• inambiguous
• nonambiguous

Related terms

• ambages
• ambiguate
• ambiguation
• ambiguity
• disambiguation
• situs ambiguous

Translations

open to multiple interpretations

• Albanian: i dykuptueshëm
• Arabic: غَامِض (ḡāmiḍ)
• Armenian: երկիմաստ (hy) (erkimast)
• Asturian: ambiguu
• Bulgarian: двусмислен (bg) (dvusmislen)
• Catalan: ambigu (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 曖昧 / 暧昧 (oi³ mui⁶, oi² mui⁶), 含糊 (ham⁴ wu⁴), 模稜兩可 / 模棱两可 (mou⁴ ling⁴ loeng⁵ ho²)

  Hokkien: 歧義 / 歧义 (kî-gī), 曖昧 / 暧昧 (ài-māi)

  Mandarin: 模稜兩可 / 模棱两可 (zh) (móléng liǎngkě), 歧義 / 歧义 (zh) (qíyì), 曖昧 / 暧昧 (zh) (àimèi)

• Czech: mnohoznačný (cs)
• Danish: tvetydig (da), flertydig (da), dobbelttydig
• Dutch: meerduidig (nl), dubbelzinnig (nl), ambigu (nl)
• Esperanto: ambigua (eo), plursenca
• Finnish: moniselitteinen, monitulkintainen (fi), tulkinnanvarainen
• French: ambigu (fr)
• Galician: ambiguo (gl)
• Georgian: ორაზროვანი (orazrovani), არაცალსახა (aracalsaxa), ბუნდოვანი (bundovani), გაურკვეველი (gaurḳveveli)
• German: mehrdeutig (de) (doppeldeutig (de), zweideutig (de))
• Greek: αμφίσημος (el) (amfísimos)

  Ancient Greek: ἀμφίβολος (amphíbolos)

• Hebrew: דו משמעי (du mashmaí)
• Hungarian: többértelmű (hu), kétértelmű (hu), nem egyértelmű
• Icelandic: óskýr
• Indonesian: rancu (id), kabur (id)
• Italian: ambiguo (it)
• Japanese: 曖昧な (ja) (aimai na)
• Korean: 모호한 (mohohan)
• Latin: ambiguus
• Macedonian: двосмислен (dvosmislen), недозначен (nedoznačen)
• Malay: taksa, kabur (ms)
• Māori: rangirua
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: flertydig, tvetydig (no)
• Plautdietsch: dobbeldiedent
• Polish: wieloznaczny (pl), dwuznaczny (pl)
• Portuguese: ambíguo (pt), dúbio (pt)
• Romanian: ambiguu (ro), cu multe sensuri
• Russian: двусмы́сленный (ru) (dvusmýslennyj), неоднозна́чный (ru) (neodnoznáčnyj), многозна́чный (ru) (mnogoznáčnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: višeznačan (sh), dvosmislen (sh)
• Slovene: dvoumen
• Spanish: ambiguo (es)
• Swedish: tvetydig (sv), dubbeltydig (sv), (osäker (sv))
• Tagalog: talohimig, taluhimig
• Thai: คลุมเครือ (th) (klum kreua), กำกวม (th) (gam-guuam)
• Turkish: belirsiz (tr), iki anlamlı (tr), ikircil (tr), müphem (tr)
• Ukrainian: багатозначний (uk) (bahatoznačnyj)
• Vietnamese: tối nghĩa (vi)
• Welsh: amwys (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} неясен (bg) (nejasen)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: ^{(please verify)} 歧義 / 歧义 (kei⁴ ji⁶)

• Danish: ^{(please verify)} dunkel (da), ^{(please verify)} forblommet
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} vaag (nl), ^{(please verify)} onduidelijk (nl), ^{(please verify)} ambigu (nl)
• German: ^{(please verify)} unklar (de), ^{(please verify)} vage (de)
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} félreérthető (hu), ^{(please verify)} kétértelmű (hu), ^{(please verify)} homályos (hu)
• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} нејасен (nejasen)
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} vag, ^{(please verify)} uklar (no)
• Portuguese: ^{(please verify)} vago (pt), ^{(please verify)} indefinido (pt), ^{(please verify)} impreciso (pt)
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} двусмысленный (ru) (dvusmyslennyj), ^{(please verify)} неясный (ru) (nejasnyj), ^{(please verify)} неопределённый (ru) (neopredeljónnyj), ^{(please verify)} неоднозначный (ru) (neodnoznačnyj), ^{(please verify)} сомнительный (ru) (somnitelʹnyj), ^{(please verify)} путанный (ru) (putannyj), ^{(please verify)} нечёткий (ru) (nečótkij), ^{(please verify)} противоречивый (ru) (protivorečivyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} nejasan (sh)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} vag (sv), ^{(please verify)} dunkel (sv), ^{(please verify)} svävande (sv)
• Thai: ^{(please verify)} คลุมเครือ (th) (klum-klʉʉa), ^{(please verify)} กำกวม (th) (gam-guuam)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} mơ hồ (vi)

See also

• contradictory
• mistakable
• confusing

Further reading

• “ambiguous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “ambiguous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “ambiguous”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.