Editing Ambiguity (section)

{{Short description|Type of uncertainty of meaning in which several interpretations are plausible}}
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{{Redirect|Ambiguous|the film|Ambiguous (film)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}

[[File:Alice 05a-1116x1492.jpg|thumb|250px|alt=Drawing of the back an anthropomorphic caterpillar, seated on a toadstool amid grass and flowers, blowing smoke from a hookah; a blonde girl in an old-fashioned frock is standing on tiptoe to peer at the caterpillar over the toadstool's edge|Sir [[John Tenniel]]'s illustration of the [[Caterpillar (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Caterpillar]] for [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' is noted for its ambiguous central figure, whose head can be viewed as either a man's face with a pointed nose and chin smoking a pipe, or as the end of an actual [[caterpillar]], with the first two right "true" legs visible (1865).<ref>"And do you see its long nose and chin? At least, they ''look'' exactly like a nose and chin, that is don't they? But they really ''are'' two of its legs. You know a Caterpillar has got ''quantities'' of legs: you can see more of them, further down." Carroll, Lewis. ''The Nursery "Alice"''. Dover Publications (1966), p 27.</ref>]]

'''Ambiguity''' is the type of [[meaning (linguistics)|meaning]] in which a [[phrase]], statement, or resolution is not explicitly defined, making for several interpretations; others describe it as a concept or statement that has no real reference. A common aspect of ambiguity is [[uncertainty]]. It is thus an [[Attribute grammar|attribute]] of any idea or statement whose [[intention|intended]] meaning cannot be definitively resolved, according to a rule or process with a finite number of steps. (The [[prefix]] ''[[wikt:ambi-#Prefix|ambi]]-''  reflects the idea of "[[2 (number)|two]]", as in "two meanings").

The concept of ambiguity is generally contrasted with [[vagueness]]. In ambiguity, specific and distinct interpretations are permitted (although some may not be immediately obvious), whereas with vague information it is difficult to form any interpretation at the desired level of specificity.