Mistake vs Ambiguity - What's the difference?
mistake | ambiguity |
An error; a blunder.
* 1877 , Henry Heth, quoting , in "Causes of the Defeat of Gen. Lee's Army at the Battle of GettysburgOpinions of Leading Confederate Soldiers.", Southern Historical Society Papers (1877), editor Rev. J. WM. Jones [http://books.google.com/books?id=iDIFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA292&dq=lee+%22mistakes+were+made%22&hl=en&ei=fchaTbu4L8L98AaVs4n-DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=lee%20%22mistakes%20were%20made%22&f=false]
(baseball) A pitch which was intended to be pitched in a hard to hit location, but instead ends up in an easy to hit place
To understand wrongly, taking one thing for another, or someone for someone else.
* Shakespeare
* Johnson
To commit an unintentional error; to do or think something wrong.
* Jonathan Swift
(obsolete, rare) To take or choose wrongly.
(countable) Something, particulary words and sentences, that is open to more than one interpretation, explanation or meaning, if that meaning etc cannot be determined from its context.
(uncountable) The state of being ambiguous.
As nouns the difference between mistake and ambiguity
is that mistake is an error; a blunder while ambiguity is (countable) something, particulary words and sentences, that is open to more than one interpretation, explanation or meaning, if that meaning etc cannot be determined from its context.As a verb mistake
is to understand wrongly, taking one thing for another, or someone for someone else.mistake
English
Noun
(en noun)- After it is all over, as stupid a fellow as I am can see that mistakes' were made. I notice, however, that my ' mistakes are never told me until it is too late.
Synonyms
* See alsoUsage notes
* Usually make a mistake. SeeVerb
- Sorry, I mistook you for my brother. You look very similar.
- My father's purposes have been mistook .
- A man may mistake the love of virtue for the practice of it.
- Servants mistake , and sometimes occasion misunderstanding among friends.
- (Shakespeare)
Derived terms
* mistakelessambiguity
English
(wikipedia ambiguity)Noun
- His speech was made with such great ambiguity that neither supporter nor opponent could be certain of his true position.