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1. Dictionary

   index

   /ˈɪndɛks/

   noun

   • 1. (in a book or set of books) an alphabetical list of names, subjects, etc. with reference to the pages on which they are mentioned: "clear cross references supplemented by a thorough index"
   • ▪ an alphabetical list by title, author, or other category of a collection of books or documents, for example in a library. Similar registerlistlistinginventorydirectoryguidekeycataloguetable of contents
   • ▪ short for Index Librorum Prohibitorum
   • ▪ a set of items each of which specifies one of the records of a file and contains information about its address.
   • 2. a sign or measure of something: "exam results may serve as an index of the teacher's effectiveness" Similar guidecluehintindicationindicatorleadsignsignalmarktokenevidencesymptomimplicationintimationsuggestion
   • ▪ a figure in a system or scale representing the average value of specified prices, shares, or other items as compared with some reference figure: "the hundred-shares index closed down 9.3"
   • ▪ a number giving the magnitude of a physical property or other measured phenomenon in terms of a standard: "the oral hygiene index was calculated as the sum of the debris and calculus indices"
   • 3. an exponent or other superscript or subscript number appended to a quantity.
   • 4. a pointer on an instrument, showing a quantity, a position on a scale, etc. Similar pointerindicatorneedlehandfingermarker
   • ▪ a symbol shaped like a pointing hand, used to draw attention to a note.

   verb

   • 1. record (names, subjects, etc.) in an index: "the list indexes theses under regional headings"
   • ▪ provide an index to: "she offered help in indexing my text book on bookselling"
   • 2. link the value of (prices, wages, or other payments) automatically to the value of a price index: "the Supreme Soviet passed legislation indexing wages to prices"
   • 3. (of a machine or part of one) move from one predetermined position to another in order to carry out a sequence of operations: "the pins are retracted and indexed to occupy an adjacent slotted position"

   Word Origin late Middle English: from Latin index, indic- ‘forefinger, informer, sign’, from in- ‘towards’ + a second element related to dicere ‘say’ or dicare ‘make known’; compare with indicate. The original sense ‘index finger’ (with which one points), came to mean ‘pointer’ (late 16th century), and figuratively something that serves to point to a fact or conclusion; hence a list of topics in a book (‘pointing’ to their location).

   Derivatives

   • 1. indexable adjective
   • 2. indexation noun
   • 3. indexer noun
   • 4. indexible adjective

   Scrabble Points: 13

   • I

     1

   • N

     1

   • D

     2

   • E

     1

   • X

     8

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