määrittelemät

Määrittelemät is a Finnish term used as an adjective to describe things that have not been defined or specified within a given text or argument. It conveys a sense of ambiguity or incompleteness in the information being discussed.

The form is derived from the verb meaning to define (määritellä) and is commonly used in academic and analytical writing. In practice, määrittelemät appears in phrases referring to terms, concepts, or data that lack explicit definitions or boundaries in the current discourse. It signals to the reader that the definition is left implicit or context-dependent rather than fixed and universally agreed.

In mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, and related fields, määrittelemät terms or concepts may be invoked to acknowledge that a definition is pending, or that certain objects are treated as primitive or undefined within a theory. The word helps distinguish between elements that are defined within the theory and those that are not, facilitating a precise discussion about scope and assumptions. Because the term is context-sensitive, its exact meaning can vary with discipline and author.

Määrittelemät should be contrasted with määritelty (defined) and with määrittelemätön or määrittelemättömät, which express undefinability in different nuances. In translations and technical writing, choosing the appropriate form depends on how explicitly the author signals the status of definitions in the argument.

See also: määritelmä, määritellä, määrittelemätön, undefined terms.