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PlainSpell

indicator

UK /ˈɪn.dɪˌkeɪ.tə(ɹ)/noun

indicator is spelled I-N-D-I-C-A-T-O-R: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, indicator means “A pointer or index that indicates something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of indicator is indicators.

How many letters and syllables are in indicator?

Letters9: I-N-D-I-C-A-T-O-R
Syllables4 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing8.3 times per million words; the 8,036th 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 indicator?

Indicator appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th 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 indicator?

  • UK /ˈɪn.dɪˌkeɪ.tə(ɹ)/

Indicator has 4 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-AU_ck1_indicator.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of indicator

  • indicators plural

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

What does indicator mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A pointer or index that indicates something.

  2. 2

    A meter or gauge.

  3. 3

    The needle or dial on such a meter.

  4. 4

    Any of many substances, such as litmus, used to indicate the concentration of a substance, or the degree of a reaction.

  5. 5

    A plant or animal whose presence is indicative of some specific environment.

  6. 6

    A measure, such as unemployment rate, which can be used to predict economic trends.

  7. 7

    AustraliaIrelandUKA turn signal; each of the flashing lights on each side of a vehicle which indicate a turn is being made to left or right, or a lane change etc.

  8. 8

    A bird, the honeyguide.

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

Indicator in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchindicateur (pointer), aiguille (needle or dial on a meter), clignotant, signofile (turn signal)
GermanIndikator, Anzeige (pointer), Zeiger (needle or dial on a meter), Blinker, Blinklicht, Fahrtrichtungsanzeiger (turn signal)
Portugueseindicador (pointer), ponteiro (needle or dial on a meter)
Spanishseñalizador (pointer), índex, índice (needle or dial on a meter), direccional, intermitente (turn signal), indicador (meter or gauge)

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 indicator come from?

From Late Latin indicātor (“one who points out”), from Latin indicō (“point out”). By surface analysis, indicate + -or; see indicate.

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

What to look up after indicator