ononderscheidbare

Ononderscheidbare is a Dutch adjective meaning indistinguishable, i.e., not able to be distinguished under a given set of criteria, information, or observation. It is used to describe objects, states, properties, or propositions that cannot be told apart within the specified context.

Etymology and usage notes: The term is formed from the prefix on- (negation) and onderscheidbaar (distinguishable), with the suffix -e or -bare adapting to agreement with the noun it modifies (for example, ononderscheidbare eigenschap, the indistinguishable property). It is common in scholarly Dutch to discuss distinctions, equivalence relations, and observables in terms of whether items are ononderscheidbare under a chosen description.

Domains of application: In philosophy and logic, ononderscheidbare describes situations or entities that cannot be distinguished by the given analysis, often in discussions of identity, equivalence, or modal reasoning. In physics and chemistry, it is used to refer to particles or states that are indistinguishable under the relevant observables, as in the concept of indistinguishable particles in quantum mechanics. In computer science and information theory, data items or states may be considered ononderscheidbare when their observable features are identical under a specified feature set or measurement.

Examples: Two theoretical models may be ononderscheidbare with respect to all measured outputs, making them observationally equivalent within that framework. In quantum mechanics, certain particles can be described as ononderscheidbare because swapping them does not yield a measurable difference.

See also: onderscheidbaar, indistinguishable, observational equivalence, identity.