index

See also: Index and índex

English

Etymology

From Latin index (“a discoverer, informer, spy; of things, an indicator, the forefinger, a title, superscription”), from indicō (“point out, show”); see indicate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪndɛks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

index (plural indexes or indices or (obsolete, in use in the 17th century) index's)

1. An alphabetical listing of items and their location.

   The index of a book lists words or expressions and the pages of the book upon which they are to be found.

2. The index finger; the forefinger.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:index finger

3. A movable finger on a gauge, scale, etc.
4. (typography) A symbol resembling a pointing hand, used to direct particular attention to a note or paragraph.

   Synonym: manicule

5. That which points out; that which shows, indicates, manifests, or discloses.
   • 1731, John Arbuthnot, An Essay Concerning the Nature of Aliments, and the Choice of Them, According to the Different Constitutions of Human Bodies. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], →OCLC:

     Tastes are the Indexes of the different Qualities of Plants.

6. A sign; an indication; a token.
   • 1887, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Misadventures of John Nicholson:

     His son's empty guffaws […] struck him with pain as the indices of a weak mind.

   • 1984 December 22, Gayle Rubin, “Censored: Anti-Porn Laws And Women's Liberation”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 23, page 8:

     Their use of these words as epithets is an index of an appallingly low level of feminist awareness.

7. (linguistics) A type of noun where the meaning of the form changes with respect to the context; e.g., 'Today's newspaper' is an indexical form since its referent will differ depending on the context. See also icon and symbol.
8. (economics) A single number calculated from an array of prices or of quantities.
9. (sciences) A number representing a property or ratio; a coefficient.
   • 1963, Richard Feynman, “Chapter 26, Optics: The Principle of Least Time”, in The Feynman Lectures on Physics, volume I:

     In other words, we predict that the index for a new pair of materials can be obtained from the indexes of the individual materials, both against air or against vacuum.

10. (mathematics) A raised suffix indicating a power.
11. (computing, especially programming and databases) An integer or other key indicating the location of data, e.g. within an array, vector, database table, associative array, or hash table.
12. (computing, databases) A data structure that improves the performance of operations on a table.
13. (algebra, index of a subgroup) The number of cosets that exist.

    The index of 2ℤ in ℤ is 2.

14. (obsolete) A prologue indicating what follows.
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:

      Ay me, what act, that roars so loud and thunders in the index?

Derived terms

• Aarne-Thompson-Uther index
• abundancy index
• anti-index
• Atiyah-Singer index theorem
• Banzhaf power index
• body mass index
• business index
• card-index
• Carrico index
• closet index
• clustered index
• consumer price index
• corpulence index
• cranial index
• cross-index
• de Bruijn index
• disposition index
• disposition index
• ease of doing business index
• edge index
• Gini index
• Gittins index
• glycaemic index
• glycemic index
• gnathic index
• Gunning fog index
• heat index
• Herfindahl index
• h-index
• Hoover index
• Horowitz index
• index card
• index case
• index digit
• index fossil
• index fund
• indexic
• indexical
• indexless
• index-linked
• index locorum
• index nominum
• index of suspicion
• index patient
• index register
• index rerum
• index term
• index verborum
• inverted index
• Jaccard index
• linguistic diversity index
• misery index
• Nikkei index
• nonclustered index
• open index
• orbital index
• ponderal index
• price index
• process window index
• producer price index
• Quetelet index
• Quetelet's index
• ramp travel index
• refractive index
• Robin Hood index
• Rohrer's index
• Schutz index
• stock market index
• tab index
• temperature-humidity index
• therapeutic index
• thumb index
• Törnqvist index
• Townsend deprivation index
• vulnerability index
• z-index

 

Related terms

• indicate
• indication
• indicator
• indicia

 

Descendants

• ⇒ Chinese: 引得 (yǐndé)
• → Japanese: インデックス (indekkusu)

Translations

alphabetical listing of items

• Afrikaans: indeks
• Albanian: indeks (sq) m
• Arabic: دَلِيل (ar) m (dalīl)
• Armenian: ինդեքս (hy) (indekʻs)
• Basque: indizea
• Belarusian: і́ндэкс m (índeks)
• Bengali: সূচী (bn) (śuci)
• Bulgarian: и́ндекс (bg) m (índeks)
• Catalan: índex (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 索引 (zh) (suǒyǐn), 引得 (zh) (yǐndé)

• Czech: rejstřík (cs) m, index (cs) m
• Danish: indeks n, indholdsfortegnelse (da) c
• Dutch: inhoud (nl) m, index (nl) m, register (nl) n
• Esperanto: indekso
• Finnish: hakemisto (fi)
• French: index (fr) m
• Galician: índice (gl) m
• Georgian: საძიებელი (saʒiebeli)
• German: Index (de) m, Verzeichnis (de) n
• Greek: κατάλογος (el) m (katálogos), ευρετήριο (el) n (evretírio), πίνακας (el) m (pínakas)
• Hebrew: מפתח (he) m (mafteakh)
• Hungarian: névmutató (hu), tárgymutató (hu), mutató (hu), jegyzék (hu)
• Icelandic: atriðaskrá m, röðunarskrá m, veldisvísir m
• Ido: indexo (io)
• Irish: innéacs m
• Italian: indice (it) m
• Japanese: 索引 (ja) (さくいん, sakuin), インデックス (ja) (indekkusu), 表題 (ja) (ひょうだい, hyōdai), 総目録 (そうもくろく, sōmokuroku)
• Kannada: ಸೂಚಿ (kn) (sūci)
• Korean: 색인(索引) (saegin)
• Latin: index c
• Lithuanian: indeksas m
• Macedonian: индекс m (indeks)
• Malay: indeks
• Maltese: indiċi (mt)
• Maori: tātai pukapuka
• Norwegian: innhold m, indeks (no) m, innholdsfortegnelse (no) m, stikkordregister n
• Persian: نمایه (fa) (namâye), فهرست (fa) (fehrest), شاخص (fa) (šâxes), نمودار (fa) (nemudâr)
• Polish: spis (pl) m, indeks (pl) m, skorowidz (pl) m
• Portuguese: índice (pt) m
• Romanian: index (ro)
• Russian: указа́тель (ru) m (ukazátelʹ), и́ндекс (ru) m (índɛks)
• Scottish Gaelic: clàr-amais m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ка̀зало n, пока̀затељ m, ѝндекс m

  Roman: kàzalo (sh) n, pokàzatelj (sh) m, ìndeks (sh) m

• Slovak: index m
• Slovene: kazalo n, indeks m, kazalec (sl) m
• Spanish: índice (es) m
• Swedish: index (sv) n, förteckning (sv) c
• Tagalog: talaturuan
• Tamil: அட்டவணை (ta) (aṭṭavaṇai)
• Telugu: సూచిక (te) (sūcika), విషయ సూచిక (viṣaya sūcika)
• Thai: ดัชนี (th) (datchanee)
• Turkish: dizin (tr), endeks (tr)
• Ukrainian: і́ндекс (uk) m (índeks)
• Vietnamese: chỉ số (vi), chỉ mục (vi)
• Welsh: dangoseg, ddangoseg, fynegai, mynegai, nangoseg

index finger — see forefinger

movable finger on a gauge, scale, etc.

• Finnish: osoitin (fi)

typography: symbol resembling a pointing hand, used to direct attention — see manicule

that which points out; that which shows, indicates, manifests, or discloses

• Finnish: merkki (fi), indikaattori (fi)
• Maori: kuputohu

sign, indication, token

• Azerbaijani: göstərici (az)
• Bulgarian: знак (bg) m (znak), показател (bg) m (pokazatel)
• Finnish: merkki (fi)
• Galician: indicio (gl) m
• Greek: ένδειξη (el) f (éndeixi)
• Russian: показа́тель (ru) m (pokazátelʹ), знак (ru) m (znak)

linguistics: type of noun

• Finnish: indeksi (fi)

economics: single number calculated from an array of prices or quantities

• Bulgarian: индекс (bg) m (indeks)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 指數／指数 (zh) (zhǐshù)

• Czech: index (cs) m
• Finnish: indeksi (fi)
• French: indice (fr)
• Georgian: ინდექსი (indeksi)
• Greek: δείκτης (el) m (deíktis)
• Hungarian: index (hu)
• Italian: indice (it) m
• Polish: indeks (pl) m
• Russian: и́ндекс (ru) m (índɛks)
• Swedish: index (sv) n
• Turkish: indeks (tr)

science: number representing a property or ratio

• Bulgarian: коефициент (bg) m (koeficient)
• Finnish: kerroin (fi), indeksi (fi)
• Greek: συντελεστής (el) (syntelestís)
• Maori: tauine
• Polish: indeks (pl) m
• Russian: коэффицие́нт (ru) m (koefficijént)

mathematics: raised suffix indicating a power

• Bulgarian: степенен показател m (stepenen pokazatel)
• Finnish: eksponentti (fi)
• Galician: expoñente (gl) m
• Greek: εκθέτης (el) m (ekthétis)
• Hungarian: kitevő (hu), hatványkitevő (hu)
• Polish: indeks (pl) m, wykładnik (pl) m
• Portuguese: expoente (pt) m
• Russian: показа́тель сте́пени m (pokazátelʹ stépeni)

programming: key indicating location of data

• Bulgarian: индекс (bg) m (indeks)
• Danish: indeks n
• Esperanto: indekso
• Finnish: indeksi (fi), paikkanumero (fi), osoitin (fi)
• Georgian: ხარისხის მაჩვენებელი (xarisxis mačvenebeli)
• Polish: indeks (pl) m
• Russian: и́ндекс (ru) m (índɛks)
• Swedish: index (sv) n

data structure

• Bulgarian: указател (bg) (ukazatel)
• Czech: index (cs) m
• Esperanto: indekso
• Finnish: hakemisto (fi), indeksi (fi)
• German: Index (de) m
• Russian: и́ндекс (ru) m (índɛks)
• Scottish Gaelic: clàr-amais m
• Swedish: index (sv) n

prologue — see prologue

See also

• (alphabetical listing): table of contents

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “index”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

Verb

index (third-person singular simple present indexes, present participle indexing, simple past and past participle indexed)

1. (transitive) To arrange an index for something, especially a long text.

   MySQL does not index short words and common words.

2. To inventory; to take stock.
3. (chiefly economics) To normalise in order to account for inflation; to correct for inflation by linking to a price index in order to maintain real levels.
4. To measure by an associated value.
   • 2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     For thousands of years, human progress was indexed to the ease and speed of our mobility: our capacity to walk on two legs, and then to ride on animals, sail on boats, chug across the land and fly through the air, all to procure for ourselves the food and materials we wanted.

5. (linguistics, transitive) To be indexical for (some situation or state of affairs); to indicate.
   • 2008, Haruko Minegishi Cook, Socializing Identities Through Speech Style, page 22:

     For example, the feature I indexes the current speaker in the speech event and you, the current addressee.

6. (computing) To access a value in a data container by an index.

Derived terms

• indexer

Translations

to arrange an index

• Bulgarian: индексирам (indeksiram)
• Catalan: indexar (ca)
• Czech: indexovat
• Danish: indeksere
• Dutch: indexeren (nl)
• Esperanto: indeksi
• Finnish: indeksoida (fi)
• French: indexer (fr)
• German: indizieren (de)
• Greek: καταλογογραφώ (el) (katalogografó)
• Italian: indicizzare (it)
• Polish: indeksować
• Portuguese: indexar (pt)
• Russian: индекси́ровать (ru) (indeksírovatʹ)
• Spanish: indizar (es), indexar (es)
• Ukrainian: індексува́ти impf or pf (indeksuváty), проіндексува́ти pf (proindeksuváty)

to take stock — see inventory

Further reading

• “index”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “index”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• nixed, xenid

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɪndɛks]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

index m inan

1. index (alphabetical listing of items and their location)

   Synonym: rejstřík

2. (economics) index

   index spotřebitelských cen ― consumer price index

3. (computing, databases) index (a data structure that improves the performance of operations on a table)

Declension

Declension of index (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	index	indexy
genitive	indexu	indexů
dative	indexu	indexům
accusative	index	indexy
vocative	indexe	indexy
locative	indexu	indexech
instrumental	indexem	indexy

Related terms

• See dikce

• indexace
• indexovat
• indexování
• indexový
• indicie
• indikace
• indikátor
• indikovat

 

Further reading

• “index”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “index”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch index, from Latin index.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.dɛks/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧dex

Noun

index m (plural indexen or indices, diminutive indexje n)

1. index (list)
2. index (number or coefficient representing various relations)
3. (medicine, anatomy) index finger

   Synonym: wijsvinger

Derived terms

• brekingsindex
• prijsindex

Related terms

• indexatie
• indexeren
• indicator
• indiceren

 

Descendants

• → Indonesian: indèks

French

Etymology

From Latin index (“pointer, indicator”), from indicō (“point out, show”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.dɛks/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

index m (plural index)

1. index
2. forefinger
3. the welcome page of a web site, typically index.html, index.htm or index.php

Derived terms

• mettre à l’index

Descendants

• → Persian: اندکس (andeks)
• → Turkish: endeks, indeks

Further reading

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

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin index.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈindɛks]
• Hyphenation: in‧dex
• Rhymes: -ɛks

Noun

index (plural indexek)

1. (automotive) turn signal (US), indicator (UK) (each of the flashing lights on each side of a vehicle which indicate a turn is being made to left or right, or a lane change)

   Synonym: irányjelző

2. pointer, hand, indicator (a needle or dial on a device)

   Synonyms: mutató, kar

3. (higher education) transcript, report card, course report (in higher education)

   Synonym: leckekönyv

   Coordinate term: (in lower education) ellenőrző

4. index (an alphabetical listing of items and their location, usually at the end of publications)

   Synonyms: névmutató, tárgymutató, szómutató

5. ban, blacklist (a list of books that was banned)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	index	indexek
accusative	indexet	indexeket
dative	indexnek	indexeknek
instrumental	indexszel	indexekkel
causal-final	indexért	indexekért
translative	indexszé	indexekké
terminative	indexig	indexekig
essive-formal	indexként	indexekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	indexben	indexekben
superessive	indexen	indexeken
adessive	indexnél	indexeknél
illative	indexbe	indexekbe
sublative	indexre	indexekre
allative	indexhez	indexekhez
elative	indexből	indexekből
delative	indexről	indexekről
ablative	indextől	indexektől
non-attributive possessive - singular	indexé	indexeké
non-attributive possessive - plural	indexéi	indexekéi

Possessive forms of index
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	indexem	indexeim
2nd person sing.	indexed	indexeid
3rd person sing.	indexe	indexei
1st person plural	indexünk	indexeink
2nd person plural	indexetek	indexeitek
3rd person plural	indexük	indexeik

Derived terms

• indexel
• indexes

 

Compound words

• árindex
• indexkép
• indexszám
• testtömegindex

 

Expressions

• alsó index
• felső index

 

Further reading

• index in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Latin

Etymology

From in + the root of dīcere (“to indicate”) +‎ -s. Compare iūdex.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈin.deks/, [ˈɪn̪d̪ɛks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈin.deks/, [ˈin̪d̪eks]

Noun

index m or f (genitive indicis); third declension

1. A pointer, indicator.
2. The index finger, forefinger.

   Synonym: digitus salūtāris

3. (of books) An index, list, catalogue, table, summary, digest.
4. (of books) A title, superscription.
5. A sign, indication, proof, mark, token, index.

   Synonyms: signum, indicium

6. An informer, discoverer, director, talebearer, guide, witness, betrayer, spy.

   Synonym: trāditor

7. (of paintings or statues) An inscription.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	index	indicēs
Genitive	indicis	indicum
Dative	indicī	indicibus
Accusative	indicem	indicēs
Ablative	indice	indicibus
Vocative	index	indicēs

Derived terms

• indicīna
• indicium
• indiculum

 

Related terms

• indicābilis
• indicātiō
• indicātīvus
• indicātor
• indicātūra
• indicō

 

Descendants

• Catalan: enze
• → Catalan: índex
• → Czech: index
• → Danish: indeks
• → English: index
  • ⇒ Chinese: 引得 (yǐndé)
  • → Japanese: インデックス (indekkusu)
• → Esperanto: indekso
• → French: index
  • → Persian: اندکس (andeks)
  • → Turkish: endeks, indeks
• Galician: éndez, endego
• → Galician: índice
• → German: Index
• → Hungarian: index
• Italian: endice
• → Italian: indice
• → Ladin: indesc
• → Macedonian: индекс (indeks)
• → Middle Dutch: index
  • Dutch: index
    • → Indonesian: indèks
• → Norwegian Bokmål: indeks
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: indeks
• → Polish: indeks
• → Portuguese: índex, índice
• → Romanian: index, indice
• → Russian: и́ндекс (índeks)
  • → Kazakh: индекс (indeks)
• → Serbo-Croatian: ѝндекс, ìndeks
• Sicilian: ìnnici
• → Spanish: índex, índice
• → Swahili: index
• → Ukrainian: і́ндекс (índeks)

References

• “index”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “index”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• index in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• index in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the title of a book: index, inscriptio libri
    
• “index”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “index”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• “index”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin index. Doublet of indice and indiciu.

Noun

index n (plural indexuri)

1. index

Declension

Declension of index

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) index	indexul	(niște) indexuri	indexurile
genitive/dative	(unui) index	indexului	(unor) indexuri	indexurilor
vocative	indexule		indexurilor

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin index.

Noun

index n

1. index

Declension

Declension of index

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	index	index
	definite	indexet	indexets
plural	indefinite	index	index
	definite	indexen	indexens

Derived terms

• aktieindex
• brytningsindex
• börsindex
• indexera
• konsumentprisindex
• prisindex