indefinida

Indefinida is the feminine singular form of the adjective indefinido, meaning indefinite or undefined in several Romance languages, notably Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. The form reflects gender agreement with feminine nouns and appears in related languages with parallel inflection. As a general descriptor, indefinida denotes a lack of precision, specificity, or determination in reference to objects, terms, or concepts.

In Spanish, indefinida agrees with feminine nouns, as in una idea indefinida (an indefinite idea). It is used to describe anything that is not sharply defined, such as a plan, a time frame, or a reference that is deliberately non-specific. The masculine form indefinido is used with masculine nouns. In Portuguese and Italian, indefinida serves a similar role: to mark indefiniteness in adjectives, noun phrases, or titles where feminine agreement is required. Phrases such as forma indefinida or circunstâncias indefinidas appear in formal writing.

In mathematics and logic, the term appears in phrases like integral indefinida (the indefinite integral) or soluções indefinidas (undefined solutions), referring to objects not uniquely determined by given data. The concept contrasts with definite, or well-defined, versions such as a definite integral.

Etymology: indefinida comes from Latin indefinitus, from in- ‘not’ + definire ‘to define.’ The feminine form is part of the inheritance of Latin’s gendered adjective system into the modern Romance languages, where noun-adjective agreement governs usage.