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The term undefined should be contrasted with the term indeterminate. In the first case, undefined generally indicates that a value or property can have no meaningful definition. In the second case, indeterminate generally indicates that a value or property can have many meaningful definitions.
Alfred Tarski explained the role of primitive notions as follows: [4]. When we set out to construct a given discipline, we distinguish, first of all, a certain small group of expressions of this discipline that seem to us to be immediately understandable; the expressions in this group we call PRIMITIVE TERMS or UNDEFINED TERMS, and we employ them without explaining their meanings.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 9 January 2025. Undefined may refer to: Mathematics Undefined (mathematics), with several related meanings Indeterminate form, in calculus Computing Undefined behavior, computer code whose behavior is not specified under certain conditions Undefined value, a condition where an expression does not have a ...
Primitives (undefined terms) are the most basic ideas. Typically they include objects and relationships. In geometry, the objects are things like points, lines and planes while a fundamental relationship is that of incidence – of one object meeting or joining with another. The terms themselves are undefined.
A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). [1] [2] Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definitions (which try to list the objects that a term describes). [3]
A model for an axiomatic system is a well-defined set, which assigns meaning for the undefined terms presented in the system, in a manner that is correct with the relations defined in the system. The existence of a concrete model proves the consistency of a system [ disputed – discuss ] .
The preceding kinds of definitions, which had prevailed since Aristotle's time, [4] were abandoned in the 19th century as new branches of mathematics were developed, which bore no obvious relation to measurement or the physical world, such as group theory, projective geometry, [3] and non-Euclidean geometry.
The strict definition of an undefined value is a superficially valid (non-null) output which is meaningless but does not trigger undefined behaviour. For example, passing a negative number to the fast inverse square root function will produce a number.