ˌambə̇ˈgyüəd.ē, ˌaam-, -ətē, -i noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English ambiguite, from Middle French ambiguïté, from Latin ambiguitat-, ambiguitas, from ambiguus + -itat-, -itas -ity
1. obsolete : intellectual uncertainty : doubt
resolve me of all ambiguities — Christopher Marlowe
2.
a.
(1) : the condition of admitting of two or more meanings, of being understood in more than one way, or of referring to two or more things at the same time
their very ambiguity is one source of their use in defense of any measure — John Dewey
(2) : looseness of signification or reference
the technical writer must rigorously avoid all ambiguity — C.E.Kellogg
2.
b.
(1) : uncertainty of meaning or significance or of position in relation to something or somebody else
a sufficiently detailed account … to remove all ambiguity — P.E.More
the social ambiguity of his parents — Lionel Trilling
(2) : mystery or mysteriousness arising especially from a vague knowledge or understanding
there was an ambiguity about this young lady — Nathaniel Hawthorne
3. : the intellectual or emotional interplay or tension resulting from the opposition or contraposing of apparently incompatible or contradictory elements or levels of meaning in a poem or other literary work ; especially : the opposition or contraposition of two or more meanings inherent in one word or symbol or in a consistent set of metaphoric or symbolic words
4. : the maintaining of two or more logically incompatible beliefs or attitudes at the same time or alternately : inconsistency resulting from vacillation between two opposing views
the inner ambiguity in each of us between reason and coercion — T.V.Smith
5. : an ambiguous word or expression
a poetical ambiguity depends on the reader's weighting the possible meanings according to their probability — William Empson