indicate

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɪn.dɪ.keɪt/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin indicāre (“to point out, show”), from its past participle indicātus,^[2][3][4] or a back-formation from indication;^[2] the Latin verb is from in- (“towards”) and dicāre (“to proclaim, make known”),^[2][3][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *deik- (“to show”) (compare diction and index).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To point out or make known: 1651 in the OED, the 1650s in Etymonline.^[6][2] The participle indicate, “indicated”, is from 1541, the date MWU gives.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

To be a sign of, to give reason for inferring, is from 1706.^[6][2] To state briefly is from 1751, and of a person, to point out or direct attention to, from 1808.^[6] In medicine, a treatment is indicated when the symptoms suggest it.^[7][8] A motorist's signalling a turn is from 1970.^[6] Indication is from the 16th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 1541 – indicate, indicated.^[6]
• 16th century – indication.^[3]
• 1651 – to point out.^[6]
• 1706 – to be a sign of.^[6]
• 1751 – to state briefly.^[6]
• 1970 – to signal a turn.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To be a sign of something; to suggest.
2. To point out or show.
3. To state briefly.
4. Of a meter or gauge, to show a reading.
5. (British) Of a driver, to signal an intention to turn.

Word family

• indicatory
• indicatable
• contraindicate
• preindicate
• unindicated

Related words

• index
• indication
• indicator
• indicative
• diction
• dedicate

Usage notes

The AHD groups indicate with argue, attest, bespeak, betoken, testify and witness, verbs for giving grounds to suppose that something exists or is present.^[8]

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin