Self-inductance an ambiguous term

Electrical nomenclature is no doubt more precise and better defined than that in all allied branches of science, but the term self-inductance is a marked exception; it is, in fact, a jumble of a number of different things. Originally it seemed to be applied chiefly to a sort of impedance to the starting of a current, like inertia in starting a body to move. Then it was interpreted as a function of the energy stored by overcoming this impedance, like the m v²/2 energy of a moving body; then as a function of the number of flux lines in which this energy was stored. But physically it is a purely geometric quantity and is said to be a mere length, hence it should be entirely independent of any electrical or magnetic quantities, yet notwithstanding this it is generally defined purely electrically, as the flux per ampere.