Etymologically
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indication

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪndɪˈkeɪʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English indicacion, borrowed from Latin indicātiō (“an indicating; valuation”), indicātiōnem,[2][3] from indicāre, to point out, show (see indicate), from in-, in, upon, and dicāre, to proclaim (see diction),[2][3] from PIE *deik-, to show.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sign or suggestion, in medicine, probably before 1425, in a translation of Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie;[2] the early 15th century in Etymonline.[3]

Semantic evolution

In medicine, a suggestion as to treatment drawn from the symptoms is from 1541.[4] The general sense, a sign or something that indicates, is first recorded in Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum (1626),[2][4] and a sign, token or symptom from 1660.[4] The degree shown by a measuring instrument is from before 1734,[4] and in mining a sign of valuable ore or oil from 1855.[4]

Timeline

  • before 1425 – a sign (medicine).[2]
  • 1541 – an indication for treatment.[4]
  • 1626 – something that indicates.[2]
  • before 1734 – a reading of an instrument.[4]
  • 1855 – a sign of ore.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Something that indicates or suggests; a sign.
  2. The act of indicating.
  3. The reading shown by a measuring instrument.
  4. (medicine) A sign that a particular treatment is advisable.

Word family

  • indicational
  • contraindication

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press