Friday, May 27, 2011

definitions

ambiguous
1 | adjective | open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead
2 | adjective | having more than one possible meaning
3 | adjective | having no intrinsic or objective meaning; not organized in conventional patterns
etymology: Greek "to move/drive around"

undefined
adjective | not precisely limited, determined, or distinguished
Alternatively, in mathematics: 1/0

I have found (and continue to find) that many words in the English language are ambiguous, while others are poorly understood, and some words could be so much more than they are. There are a lot of good words that go unused and people often use inferior or even incorrect words.

Personally, I try to be accurate and precise when using languages, especially in debates I have with friends where such qualities are necessary to articulate and defend an argument. Therefore, I've started making my own definitions for certain words, not new words, but slight enhancements to get more out of my language. So, I've decided to start posting my definitions, along side their traditional counterparts.

For the most part, definitions and etymologies will come from Wolfram|Alpha (which, to my knowledge cites Oxford), Merriam-Webster, Wikitonary, or dictionary.com.

defined
1 | adjective | clearly characterized or delimited
2 | adjective | showing clearly the outline or profile or boundary
etymology: Greek "to set a limit, bound end"

I have nothing to add to these words, I just thought it interesting to look them up.

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