ambigu

See also: ambigú

English

Etymology

From French ambigu.

Noun

ambigu (countable and uncountable, plural ambigus)

1. (dated, countable) An entertainment at which a medley of dishes is set on at the same time; a buffet.
   • 1708, William King, Art of Cookery:

     When straiten'd in your time, and servants few, You'd richly then compose an ambigu; Where first and second course, and your desert, All in one single table have their part.

   • 1898, Matilda Betham-Edwards, A Storm-rent Sky: Scenes of Love and Revolution, page 46:

     "Carry this to Sister Clarisse,” she said, "and bid her prepare an ambigu for neighbour Prudent in the almonry.” The schoolmaster's face shone. An ambigu, in other words, meat, vegetables, dessert, served at once generally in one large dish, made up for scanty fare days before and after.

   • 2012, The Picayune's Creole Cook Book, page 417:

     Properly served, as is done daily in many a Creole home, an “Ambigu” may become an elegant and distinguished repast, though the viands are plain and simple.

   • 2014, Alan Davidson, Tom Jaine, The Oxford Companion to Food, page 15:

     The meaning of the French word which was appropriated to use in England in this way can be 'a mixture of different things', and this meaning was reflected in the wide variety of dishes laid out on the 'sideboard' for an ambigu.

2. (uncountable) A French card game, somewhat like poker, but of earlier origin and involving different scoring of hands, played with a 40 card deck (four suits of Ace through 10).
   • 1916, New International Encyclopedia - Volume 18, page 773:

     In France during the following century primero became ambigu, and a little later another variation, called brag, sprang up in the west of England, from which poker is more directly descended in its American form.

   • 2010, Stewart N. Ethier, The Doctrine of Chances: Probabilistic Aspects of Gambling, page 731:

     Others include the French games of ambigu, bouillotte, and brelan, the English games of brag and post-and-pair, and the Italian game of primiera.

   • 2013, Walter B. Gibson, Hoyle's Modern Encyclopedia of Card Games, page 15:

     There can be no ties in ambigu because when identical hands occur (as ♠9,♣7,♦5,♥A vs. ♣9,♦7,♥5,♠A) the player nearest to the dealer's right becomes the winner.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ambiguus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əmˈbi.ɣu]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [amˈbi.ɣu]

Adjective

ambigu (feminine ambigua, masculine plural ambigus, feminine plural ambigües)

1. ambiguous

Derived terms

• ambiguament
• ambigüitat

Further reading

• “ambigu” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “ambigu”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “ambigu” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ambigu” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French ambigu, from Latin ambiguus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɑm.biˈɣy/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: am‧bi‧gu
• Rhymes: -y

Adjective

ambigu (not comparable)

1. ambiguous

   Synonym: dubbelzinnig

Declension

Declension of ambigu
uninflected	ambigu
inflected	ambigue
comparative	ambiguer
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		ambigu	ambiguer	het ambigu'st het ambigu'ste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	ambigue	ambiguere	ambigu'ste
	n. sing.	ambigu	ambiguer	ambigu'ste
	plural	ambigue	ambiguere	ambigu'ste
definite		ambigue	ambiguere	ambigu'ste
partitive		ambigu's	ambiguers	—

Derived terms

• ambiguïteit

Descendants

• → Indonesian: ambigu

French

Etymology

From Latin ambiguus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.bi.ɡy/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -y
• Homophones: ambiguë, ambigüe, ambiguës, ambigües, ambigus

Adjective

ambigu (feminine ambiguë or ambigüe, masculine plural ambigus, feminine plural ambiguës or ambigües)

1. ambiguous (open to multiple interpretations)

Related terms

• ambiguïser
• ambiguïté / ambigüité
• ambigument
• désambiguïser

Descendants

• → Dutch: ambigu
• → German: ambig

Noun

ambigu m (plural ambigus)

1. ambiguation
2. a meal where all courses are served together; a buffet

Descendants

• → Catalan: ambigú
• → Spanish: ambigú

Further reading

• “ambigu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch ambigu, from French ambigu, from Latin ambiguus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [amˈbiɡu]
• Hyphenation: am‧bi‧gu

Adjective

ambigu

1. ambiguous.

   Synonym: taksa

Related terms

• ambiguitas

Further reading

• “ambigu” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.