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index

/ˈɪndɛks/noun, verb

index is spelled I-N-D-E-X: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 37 times per million words in written English, the 2,618th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, index means “An alphabetical listing of items and their location” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of index is indexes or indices; Wiktionary also lists index's (obsolete).

How many letters and syllables are in index?

Letters5: I-N-D-E-X
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing37 times per million words; the 2,618th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is index?

Index appears 37 times per million words in written English, the 2,618th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce index?

  • US /ˈɪndɛks/
  • /ˈɪndɛks/
  • [ˈɪndæks]

Index has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-index.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of index

  • indexes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • indices plural
  • indexing participle, present
  • indexed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does index mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 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. 2

    The index finger; the forefinger.

  3. 3

    A movable finger on a gauge, scale, etc.

  4. 4

    A symbol resembling a pointing hand, used to direct particular attention to a note or paragraph.

  5. 5

    That which points out; that which shows, indicates, manifests, or discloses.

    Among the gravity indexes is the severance of diplomatic relations.

  6. 6

    A sign; an indication; a token.

  7. 7

    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.

  8. 8

    A single number calculated from an array of prices or of quantities.

verb

  1. 1

    To arrange an index for something, especially a long text.

    MySQL does not index short words and common words.

  2. 2

    To inventory; to take stock.

  3. 3

    To normalise in order to account for inflation; to correct for inflation by linking to a price index in order to maintain real levels.

  4. 4

    To measure by an associated value.

  5. 5

    To be indexical for (some situation or state of affairs); to indicate.

  6. 6

    To access a value in a data container by an index.

  7. 7

    To use a mechanism to move an object to a precise location.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate index?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of index: ind..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Index in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchindex (alphabetical listing of items), indice (economics: single number calculated from an…), indexer (to arrange an index)
GermanIndex, Verzeichnis (alphabetical listing of items), indizieren (to arrange an index)
Portugueseíndice (alphabetical listing of items), indexar (to arrange an index), expoente (mathematics: raised suffix indicating a power)
Spanishíndice (alphabetical listing of items), indizar, indexar (to arrange an index), índex (movable finger on a gauge, scale, etc)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does index come from?

From Latin index (“a discoverer, informer, spy; of things, an indicator, the forefinger, a title, superscription”), from indicō (“point out, show”); see indicate.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after index