What does "index" mean?
An alphabetical listing of items and their location.
Index
/ˈɪndɛks/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An alphabetical listing of items and their location.
- Grammar: index is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: indicator, acknowledgment, acknowledgments, aeronautical chart.
- Useful contrasts: uncatalogued, deindex, exclude.
- Usage evidence: The stock price index was off 200 points yesterday.
How to use "index"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "index" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "index" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "index" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "index" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "index" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "indicator" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "index", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 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 finger next to the thumb wordnet
- 3 The index finger; the forefinger.
- 4 an alphabetical listing of names and topics along with page numbers where they are discussed wordnet
- 5 A movable finger on a gauge, scale, etc.
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 a number or ratio (a value on a scale of measurement) derived from a series of observed facts; can reveal relative changes as a function of time wordnet
- 7 A symbol resembling a pointing hand, used to direct particular attention to a note or paragraph.
- 8 a mathematical notation indicating the number of times a quantity is multiplied by itself wordnet
- 9 That which points out; that which shows, indicates, manifests, or discloses.
"Tastes are the Indexes of the different Qualities of Plants."
- 10 a numerical scale used to compare variables with one another or with some reference number wordnet
- 11 A sign; an indication; a token.
"His son's empty guffaws […] struck him with pain as the indices of a weak mind."
- 12 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.
- 13 A single number calculated from an array of prices or of quantities.
- 14 A number representing a property or ratio; a coefficient.
"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."
- 15 A raised suffix indicating a power.
- 16 An integer or other key indicating the location of data, e.g. within an array, vector, database table, associative array, or hash table. especially
- 17 A data structure that improves the performance of operations on a table.
- 18 The number of cosets that exist.
"The index of 2ℤ in ℤ is 2."
- 19 A prologue indicating what follows. obsolete
"Ay me, what act, that roars so loud and thunders in the index?"
Verb
- 1 To arrange an index for something, especially a long text. transitive
"MySQL does not index short words and common words."
- 2 adjust through indexation wordnet
- 3 To inventory; to take stock.
- 4 provide with an index wordnet
- 5 To normalise in order to account for inflation; to correct for inflation by linking to a price index in order to maintain real levels.
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 list in an index wordnet
- 7 To measure by an associated value.
"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."
- 8 To be indexical for (some situation or state of affairs); to indicate. transitive
"For example, the feature I indexes the current speaker in the speech event and you, the current addressee."
- 9 To access a value in a data container by an index.
- 10 To use a mechanism to move an object to a precise location. transitive
Proper Noun
- 1 An unincorporated community in Miller County, Arkansas.
- 2 An unincorporated community in Morgan County, Kentucky.
- 3 A ghost town in Cass County, Missouri.
- 4 A small hamlet in Otsego County, New York.
- 5 An unincorporated community in King George County, Virginia.
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 A town in Snohomish County, Washington.
- 7 An unincorporated community in Gilmer County, West Virginia.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The stock price index was off 200 points yesterday."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "index"?
Common synonyms include: indicator, acknowledgment, acknowledgments, aeronautical chart, afisr, aggregating.
How do you use "index" in a sentence?
The stock price index was off 200 points yesterday.
How do you pronounce "index"?
Pronounced /ˈɪndɛks/.
Etymology
From Latin index (“a discoverer, informer, spy; of things, an indicator, the forefinger, a title, superscription”), from indicō (“point out, show”); see indicate.