ambiguity

1. (uncountable) The state of being ambiguous; the state of leaving room for more than one interpretation.Examples: "His speech was made with such great ambiguity that neither supporter nor opponent could be certain of his true position."; "Whan this ſayd monument diſcouered was / Suche a ſuauite and fragrant odoure / Aſcended from the corps by ſingular grace / Paſſyng all worldly ſwetnes and ſauour / That all there present that day and hour / Suppoſed they had ben / in the felicite / Of erthely paradiſe / without ambiguite."Synonyms: ambiguousness, imprecision, polysemyuncountable

2. (countable) An instance of this state: words or statements that are open to more than one interpretation, explanation or meaning, especially if that meaning cannot be determined from the context.Examples: "If two persons bore the same name, and confusion was likely to be caused, ambiguity was avoided by adding the name of the father[…]"; "For people who would rather face a plague of locusts than permit an avoidable ambiguity, this is like having their underwear twisted. You may think we should say to such people, “Get a life.” By all means tell them that. I’m neither making these rules up nor trying to enforce them; my job in this book is to point out to you what seems to be the current state of the language and its speakers.""countable