In·de-tēr′mi·nate, a.

a. [Prefix in, not, and determinate; Lat. indeterminatus, It. indeterminata, Sp. indeterminado, Fr. indéterminé.] Not determinate; not settled or fixed; not definite; uncertain; not precise; as, an indeterminate number of years. Indeterminate analysis (Math.), that branch of analysis which has for its object the solution of indeterminate problems. Math. Dict. — Indeterminate co-efficients, co-efficients arbitrarily assumed for convenience of calculation, to facilitate some artifice of analysis, or as the co-efficients of indeterminate quantities in certain forms of equations, especially in the development of series, and the like. — Indeterminate equation, one in which the unknown quantities admit of an infinite number 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 continuing the stem indefinitely. 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, a quantity which has no fixed value, but which may be varied in accordance with any proposed condition. — Indeterminate series, a series whose terms proceed by the powers of an indeterminate quantity, sometimes also with indeterminate exponents, or indeterminate co-efficients. Hutton.