Ambiguus, Adiectiuum. Ter. Doubtfull: vncertaine: bariable: vnconstant.Consilij ambiguus. Tac. Vncertaine what he may doe.Ambiguus pudoris ac metus. Tac. In doubt betwene shame and feare.Futuri ambiguus. Tac. Vncertaine what will chaunce.Ambiguus imperandi. Corn. Tac. Vncertaine whether he should commaund or gouerne.Ambiguæ aquæ.Ouid.Of diuets natures.Fauor ambiguus.Liu.Doubtfull.Fidei ambiguæ vir.Liu.A man of slipper credite.Infans ambiguus. Sen. Halfe a man, halfe a beast.Ingenium ambiguum. Plin. A variable or vnconstant wirte.Iter ambiguum. Pers. Vncertaine way.Nomen ambiguum.Cic.That may be taken diuers wayes.Scriptum ambiguum. Cicero. That may be taken in diuers sences.Vates ambiguus. Sil. Ital. That prophesieth obscurely.Verba ambigua distinximus.Cic.Of double signisication.Verba ambigua perplexa voce iacis. Sen. Thou speakest intricately: and doubtfully.Voces ambiguas in vulgÛ spargere.Virg.To spread doubtfull rumours. Vultu ambigno. Horat.
Lewis and Short: Latin dictionary
ambĭgŭus, a, um, adj. [ambigo], going about, hither and thither.I.Lit.: per ambiguum favorem gratiam victoris spectare, i. e.
in that they show equal friendliness to both sides
, Liv. 21, 52: ambiguus Proteus,
who sometimes takes one form
,
sometimes another
,
changeable
, Ov. M. 2, 9: ambiguus fuerit, modo vir, modo femina, Scython, id. ib. 4, 280: Inque virum soliti vultus mutare ferinos Ambigui prosecta lupi,
they sometimes assume the form of a wolf and sometimes that of a man
, id. ib. 7, 271: promisit Ambiguam Salamina, h. l. = alteram,
a second Salamis
, Hor. C. 1, 7, 29. —II.Transf.A.Uncertain, doubtful (syn.: dubius, incertus): ambiguum est quod in ambas agi partes animo potest. Hujusmodi apud Graecos a)mfi/bola dicuntur, Paul. ex Fest. p. 17 Müll.: quidquid incerti mihi in animo prius aut ambiguom fuit, Nunc liquet, nunc defaecatum est, Plaut. Ps. 2, 4, 69: etiam si dudum fuerat ambiguom hoc mihi, Ter. Hec. 4, 4, 26: difficile et ambiguum, Vulg. Deut. 17, 8: haud ambiguus rex, i. e. sine dubio rex futurus, Liv. 40, 8.—Subst.: ambĭgŭum, i, n., doubt, uncertainty: in ambiguo est, Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 193: in ambiguo relinquere, Lucr. 4, 1133: non habui ambiguum, Brut. ap. Cic. Fam. 11, 11: servet in ambiguo Juppiter, Hor. Ep. 1, 16, 28: non sane alias magis in ambiguo Britannia fuit, Tac. Agr. 5.—Also in acc. absol. in the Gr. manner: Ambiguum Clymene precibus Phaëthontis an irā Mota magis, it being uncertain whether, etc., Ov. M. 1, 765 (so, incertum, Tac. Agr. 7: dubium, id. A. 1, 5).—B. Of discourse, obscure, dark, ambiguous: scriptum, Cic. Top. 25: verba ambigua distinximus, id. Or. 29, 102: oracula, id. Div. 2, 56: responsa, Suet. Tib. 24: divinatio, Vulg. Ezech. 12, 24.—Subst.: ambĭgŭum, i, n., an obscure, dark saying: ambiguorum complura sunt genera, Cic. de Or. 2, 26, 111; 2, 61, 250; Auct. ad Her. 1, 6; 1, 12 al.: voces, Verg. A. 2, 98.—C.Trop., uncertain, wavering; not to be relied on, untrustworthy. —So of moral conduct: esse ambiguā fide, Liv. 6, 2: puer acris ingenii sed ambigui, Plin. Ep. 4, 2: femina bonis atque honestis moribus, non ambiguā pudicitiā, Gell. 3, 16: per ambiguas vias, Ov. H. 10, 62: domum timet ambiguam Tyriosque bilinguis, Verg. A 1, 661.—Of fortune, changing, fluctuating: ambiguarum rerum sciens, Tac. A. 1, 64.!*? In Tac. with gen.: ambiguus imperandi,
irresolute
, Tac. A. 1, 7: pudoris ac metus,
wavering between shame and fear
, id. ib. 2, 40: futuri, id. H. 3, 43.—Adv.: ambĭguē, doubtfully, ambiguously, Cic. de Or. 2, 26; id. N. D. 1, 31; Aur. Vict. 35: pugnare,