Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Ambiguous"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Ambiguous \Am*big"u*ous\, a. [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}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
ambiguous
adj 1: open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature
or significance; or (often) intended to mislead; "an
equivocal statement"; "the polling had a complex and
equivocal (or ambiguous) message for potential female
candidates"; "the officer's equivocal behavior
increased the victim's uneasiness"; "popularity is an
equivocal crown"; "an equivocal response to an
embarrassing question" [syn: {equivocal}] [ant: {unequivocal}]
2: having more than one possible meaning; "ambiguous words";
"frustrated by ambiguous instructions, the parents were
unable to assemble the toy" [ant: {unambiguous}]
3: (psychology) having no intrinsic or objective meaning; not
organized in conventional patterns; "an ambiguous
situation with no frame of reference"; "ambiguous
inkblots"
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