card index

noun

"card-index" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“card index” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any index formed with index cards, as was common in many businesses before the microcomputer revolution.

Corpus desk

Index EN-card-index · card index · English

card index · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for card index
PropertyValue
Headwordcard index
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “card index” in English

card indexsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

card index is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any index formed with index cards, as was common in many businesses before the microcomputer revolution.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for card index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is card index, spelled C-A-R-D- -I-N-D-E-X.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any index formed with index cards, as was common in many businesses before the microcomputer revolution.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how card index appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Near-synonym: card catalogue

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "card index"?
"card index" is spelled C-A-R-D- -I-N-D-E-X.
What does "card index" mean?
As a noun, "card index" means: Any index formed with index cards, as was common in many businesses before the microcomputer revolution.
What language does "card index" come from?
"card index" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list