indistinguishableadj.
/ɪndɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃəb(ə)l/ Not distinguishable; that cannot be distinguished.
1.
a. Incapable of being discriminated or recognized as different from something else, or from each other; of which the difference cannot be perceived. Also as n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > identity > [adjective] > identical
oneOE
all oneOE
alikea1393
all like1477
indifferent1530
selfsame1582
identical1601
same1621
identitial1635
identica1657
indistinguishable1658
identifical1673
undistinguishable1679
tautological1689
indistinctible1781
the world > relative properties > relationship > identity > [noun] > the same thing or person > an identical thing
identity1570
same1690
indistinguishable1903
1658 Sir T. Browne Garden of Cyrus iii, in Hydriotaphia: Urne-buriall 136 The true seeds of Cypresse and Rampions are indistinguishable by old eyes.
1857 G. H. Lewes Biogr. Hist. Philos. (rev. ed.) 612 The simultaneousness of the two sensations renders them indistinguishable.
1882 G. Allen in Knowledge 10 Mar. 403 So after a short time they became as indistinguishable from the true Celts, as Normans and Danes in England have become indistinguishable from the rest of the community.
1903 Daily Chron. 24 Nov. 4/5 All this contention and uncertainty might be avoided if we abolished..the artificial distinction between two indistinguishables.
1949 H. W. B. Joseph Lect. Philos. Leibniz ii. 23 There will be a perpetual substitution of indistinguishables.
b. transferred. Of which the parts are not distinguishable; of indeterminate shape or structure.This is perhaps the meaning in the Shakespeare quot., where the word is used of Thersites, ? in reference to his deformity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > lack of shape > [adjective] > without clearly defined shape
indistinguishable1609
uncertain1638
vague1822
unsharp1889
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. i. 26 You ruinous but, you horson indistinguishable cur. View more context for this quotation
1873 W. Black Princess of Thule i. 9 The sea and the air and the sky seemed to be one indistinguishable mass of whirling and hurrying vapour.
2. That cannot be clearly perceived (by the senses or the mind); not discernible; imperceptible.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > invisibility > [adjective] > indistinct
dimc1000
blinda1398
undistingued1398
obscure?a1450
undistinct1495
shadowed1588
undistinguishable1600
shady1626
blear1637
filmed1637
indistinguishable1642
crepusculous1646
adumbrated1650
oblite1650
faint1660
monogrammous1678
blurred1701
faintish1712
wispya1717
adumbrant1727
muzzy1744
indistinct1764
fuzzy1778
misty1797
shadowy1797
undistinguished1814
woolly1815
vague1822
furzy1825
mystified1833
slurred1843
feeble1860
smudginga1861
filmy1864
smudgy1865
blurry1884
slurry1937
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > ability to be perceived by senses > [adjective] > (naturally) imperceptible to senses > so slight, etc., as to be imperceptible
imperceptible?a1475
unsensible1545
insensible1584
undistinguishable1600
indistinguishable1642
inappreciable1862
1642 R. Burney Answer Observ. ii. 10 The Scales of the Votes dancing indistinguishable whither they leane.
1809–10 S. T. Coleridge Friend (1837) III. 110 The silent and..indistinguishable lapse of time.
1834 S. Cooper Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 527 The pulse of the arteries of a paralytic arm was quite indistinguishable.
1842 J. Wilson Recreations Christopher North I. 362 Indistinguishable to the eye.
Derivatives
indistinguishaˈbility n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > identity > [noun]
oneness?c1225
identity1545
indifferency1569
selfsameness1577
sameness1581
said1623
homogeneity1625
indistinction1644
indifference1656
sameliness1662
identicalness1677
undistinguishableness1727
indistinguishableness1731
self-identity1866
dittoship1869
identicality1875
indistinguishability1885
sameyness1977
1885 F. Temple Relations Relig. & Sci. ii. 41 Here we mean a different thing by the word same. We mean indistinguishability.
indiˈstinguishableness n. the quality or character of being indistinguishable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > identity > [noun]
oneness?c1225
identity1545
indifferency1569
selfsameness1577
sameness1581
said1623
homogeneity1625
indistinction1644
indifference1656
sameliness1662
identicalness1677
undistinguishableness1727
indistinguishableness1731
self-identity1866
dittoship1869
identicality1875
indistinguishability1885
sameyness1977
1731 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Indistinguishableness..uncapableness to be distinguished.
1855 H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. ii. v. 119 The true interpretation of equality is indistinguishableness.
1891 Monist 1 488 Shading off from perfect likeness or indistinguishableness to just recognisable affinity.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
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adj.1609