indeterminism

noun

"indeterminism" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“indeterminism” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The doctrine that all human actions are not so much determined by the preceding events, conditions, causes or karma as by deliberate choice or free will.

Corpus desk

Index EN-indeterminism · indeterminism · English

indeterminism · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for indeterminism
PropertyValue
Headwordindeterminism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “indeterminism” in English

indeterminismsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

indeterminism is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

indeterminism has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French indéterminisme, equivalent to in- + determinism. The correct English form is indeterminism, spelled I-N-D-E-T-E-R-M-I-N-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    The doctrine that all human actions are not so much determined by the preceding events, conditions, causes or karma as by deliberate choice or free will.
  2. 2
    A case in which the uncertainty principle applies; a case in which certain pairs of physical properties such as the position and momentum of a particle cannot be known simultaneously.
  3. 3
    Any situation in which the outcome cannot be completely predicted in advance.
  4. 4
    A situation in which there are multiple valid options for next step in a process.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how indeterminism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The classic examples in physics involve relativity theory and quantum theory and the recognition of the indeterminisms underlying those required the genius of Einstein and of Heisenberg.
  2. There is a whole gradation of more or less rigid determinisms and more or less free indeterminisms, as they have been given in various theories.

Etymology

Borrowed from French indéterminisme, equivalent to in- + determinism.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "indeterminism"?
"indeterminism" is spelled I-N-D-E-T-E-R-M-I-N-I-S-M.
What does "indeterminism" mean?
As a noun, "indeterminism" means: The doctrine that all human actions are not so much determined by the preceding events, conditions, causes or karma as by deliberate choice or free will.
What is the origin of the word "indeterminism"?
Borrowed from French indéterminisme, equivalent to in- + determinism. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list