Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

indefinitely en · ADV

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ɪnˈdɛfɪnɪtli/

Etymology

Etymology tree English indefinite Middle English -ly English -ly English indefinitely From indefinite + -ly.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) In a manner that is not definite.
    • an indefinitely determined fossil
  2. (not-comparable) For a long time, with no defined end.
    • For it would surely improve the domestic standing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an unbudgeable hawk, and thereby indefinitely delay peace on that Middle Eastern front. 2009 October 1, “Answering Iran’s Nuclear Challenge”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 17 Jun 2022:
    • It was a dark, horsehairy place with a sort of abandon-hope atmosphere that seemed suitable for people that had no money, and who were going indefinitely into pawn. 1905, Lloyd Osbourne, Baby Bullet: the motor of destiny, page 171:
    • One argument is that "the virus has changed everything" and that people will work from home and travel much less, easing capacity pressures. But there is a counter argument whereby we may all discover that, longer-term, many jobs cannot after all be effectively carried out from home indefinitely. 2020 May 20, David Thrower, Ian Wray, “Revisiting the plan for developing the North's rail network”, in Rail, page 40:
  3. (not-comparable) Forever.
    • Even assuming, however, that for economic reasons capitalism cannot last indefinitely, it would still not follow that it must be replaced by Marxian socialism. 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 374:

Relateds

endlessly

Translations (34)

es indefinidamente (for a long time, no end defined) · ru бесконе́чно (forever) · ru ве́чно (forever) · de unbegrenzt (for a long time, no end defined) · it indefinitamente (for a long time, no end defined) · nl eeuwig (forever) · ru бесконе́чно (for a long time, no end defined) · fr infiniment (forever) · ja 無期限に (for a long time, no end defined) · ru неопределённо (in a manner that is not definite) · bg завинаги (forever) · pl bezterminowo (forever) · hi अनंत (forever) · es indefinidamente (forever) · tl nang padituring (for a long time, no end defined) · hi अनिश्चितकाल (for a long time, no end defined) · fi ikuisesti (forever) · nl permanent (forever) · nl voorgoed (forever) · bg неопределено (for a long time, no end defined) · fi toistaiseksi (for a long time, no end defined) · ru ве́чно (for a long time, no end defined) · hu határozatlan/bizonytalan ideig/időre (for a long time, no end defined) · hu korlátlan ideig/időre (forever) · pl bezterminowo (for a long time, no end defined) · ja 永遠に (forever) · nl voor onbepaalde tijd (for a long time, no end defined) · fr indéfiniment (for a long time, no end defined) · hu bizonytalanul (in a manner that is not definite) · ca indefinidament (in a manner that is not definite) · nl (voor) altijd (forever) · ca indefinidament (for a long time, no end defined) · pt indefinidamente (for a long time, no end defined) · hu határozatlanul (in a manner that is not definite)