Ambiguite

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being open to more than one interpretation, so that a statement or situation is unclear
2. Uncertainty of meaning that arises when words, signs or events can reasonably be understood in several ways
3. A state in which something could be taken in two or more senses, leaving its true meaning unsettled

Etymology: "Ambiguite" is an older, French-style spelling of "ambiguity," and it carries a sense of movement in its Latin roots. The Latin "ambiguitas" comes from "ambiguus," meaning "doubtful" or "uncertain," which in turn grows from "ambigere," "to wander about" or "to go around in two directions." That verb is built from "ambi-," "around" or "on both sides," and "agere," "to drive" or "to move." A thing that is ambiguous was, originally, something that pulled you two ways at once. The French form "ambiguïté," with its circumflex, reached English through Old French, which is why the spelling has a continental look. English later settled on "ambiguity," keeping the same Latin base. Across centuries of use, the word has kept its core idea: a meaning that cannot be pinned to a single path.

Synonyms: ambiguity, equivocation, vagueness, uncertainty, obscurity

Antonyms: clarity, certainty, precision, lucidity, definiteness