ambiguus
Latin
Etymology
From ambig(ō) (“wander; waver, hesitate”) + -uus.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /amˈbi.ɡu.us/, [ämˈbɪɡuʊs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /amˈbi.ɡu.us/, [ämˈbiːɡuːs]
Adjective
ambiguus (feminine ambigua, neuter ambiguum, adverb ambiguē); first/second-declension adjective
- going two ways, hither and thither, moving from side-to-side
- hybrid
- changing, fluctuating, wavering
- uncertain, doubtful, undecided, indecisive
- (of discourse) obscure, ambiguous
- (figuratively) wavering, not to be relied on, untrustworthy, unreliable, treacherous
Declension
First/second-declension adjective.
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Nominative | ambiguus | ambigua | ambiguum | ambiguī | ambiguae | ambigua | |
| Genitive | ambiguī | ambiguae | ambiguī | ambiguōrum | ambiguārum | ambiguōrum | |
| Dative | ambiguō | ambiguō | ambiguīs | ||||
| Accusative | ambiguum | ambiguam | ambiguum | ambiguōs | ambiguās | ambigua | |
| Ablative | ambiguō | ambiguā | ambiguō | ambiguīs | |||
| Vocative | ambigue | ambigua | ambiguum | ambiguī | ambiguae | ambigua | |
Derived terms
- ambiguē
- ambiguitās
- ambiguum
Related terms
- ambigō
Descendants
- Catalan: ambigu
- → English: ambiguous
- French: ambigu
- → Dutch: ambigu
- → German: ambig
- Italian: ambiguo
- Portuguese: ambíguo
- Romanian: ambiguu
- Sicilian: ammìguu
- Spanish: ambiguo
References
- “ambĭgŭus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “ambiguus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- ambiguus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- obsolete, ambiguous expressions: prisca, obsoleta (opp. usitata), ambigua verba
- obsolete, ambiguous expressions: prisca, obsoleta (opp. usitata), ambigua verba