underdetermination

noun

The state or quality of being underdetermined

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Meanings

noununderdetermination (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe state or quality of being underdetermined

    It is true that […] the questions of the justification of inductive inferences normally lead to further problems, associated with the phenomenon of the underdetermination of theory by experience.

    2007 October 9, Manuel Pérez Otero, “The Humean problem of induction and Carroll’s Paradox”, in Philosophical Studies, volume 141, number 3, →DOI

Origin

From under- + determination or underdetermine + -ation.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

underdetermination. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underdetermination

MLA

“underdetermination.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underdetermination. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “underdetermination,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underdetermination.

Source: underdetermination on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.