index

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɪn.deks/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin index (“forefinger; informer, pointer, sign; list, catalogue”) (genitive indicis), literally “anything which points out”,^[2][3][4] from indicāre “to point out”,^[3][2] from in- “towards” and a second part related to dicāre “to proclaim, make known”,^[2][4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *deik- (“to show”).^[2][6] It is related to indicate and diction.^[3][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The forefinger, used for pointing: 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew,^[3][7] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[2] This sense is now obsolete in general use, and index finger is from 1768.^[2]

Semantic evolution

An alphabetical list of the subjects of a book is from 1578 in the OED,^[7] 1580 in Barnhart, after Latin headings such as Index Nominum.^[3][2] A pointer on an instrument, and the hand of a clock, are from 1594,^[7][2] and a sign or indication of something from 1607.^[7] The Catholic Index of forbidden books, the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, was first published in 1564 under Pius IV.^[2] In science a number indicating a property, as the refractive index, is from the 19th century,^[3][2] and in economics a price index is from 1886 in Barnhart^[3] and 1870 in Etymonline.^[2] In mathematics, an exponent is from the 17th century.^[6] The verb, to provide with an index, is from 1720,^[7][2] and to adjust wages or prices by an index came later.^[8][9] The plural is indexes, or indices in technical senses.^[6][9]

Timeline

• 1398 – the forefinger.^[3][7]
• 1564 – the Index of forbidden books.^[2]
• 1578 – the index of a book.^[7]
• 1594 – a pointer.^[7]
• 1607 – a sign.^[7]
• 1720 – verb.^[7][2]
• 1768 – index finger.^[2]
• 1886 – a price index.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An alphabetical list of names and subjects in a book, with the pages where they appear.
2. A catalogue, list or file.
3. A sign or indication: an index of progress.
4. A number that shows the level of prices, wages or other values compared with a base, as a stock index.
5. (mathematics) An exponent or subscript.
6. A pointer, as on a dial.
7. The forefinger.

Verb

1. To provide with an index, or enter in one.
2. To adjust (wages or benefits) in line with a price index.

Word family

• indexer
• indexable
• indexical
• indexically
• indexless
• reindex

Related words

• indicate
• indicator
• indication
• indicia
• indexation
• indict
• diction

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster