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Webster 1913 Edition


Ambiguous

Am-big′u-ous

,
Adj.
[L.
ambiguus
, fr.
ambigere
to wander about, waver;
amb-
+
agere
to drive.]
Doubtful or uncertain, particularly in respect to signification; capable of being understood in either of two or more possible senses; equivocal;
as, an
ambiguous
course; an
ambiguous
expression.
What have been thy answers? What but dark,
Ambiguous
, and with double sense deluding?
Milton.
Syn. – Doubtful; dubious; uncertain; unsettled; indistinct; indeterminate; indefinite. See
Equivocal
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Ambiguous

AMBIG'UOUS

,
Adj.
[L. ambiguus.]
Having two or more meanings; doubtful; being of uncertain signification; susceptible of different interpretations; hence, obscure. It is applied to words and expressions; not to a dubious state of mind, though it may be to a person using words of doubtful signification.
The ancient oracles were ambiguous, as were their answers.