index: [16] Latin index originally meant ‘indicator’, and hence more specifically ‘forefinger’ – the finger used for pointing things out. It was based on the same stem, *dik- ‘point out’, as produced Latin dīcere ‘say’ (source of English diction, dictionary, etc). The metaphorically extended sense ‘list of contents’ had already developed in Latin before English took it over. Indicate is a parallel but apparently independent formation. => diction, dictionary, indicate
index (n.)
late 14c., "the forefinger," from Latin index (genitive indicis) "forefinger, pointer, sign, list," literally "anything which points out," from indicare "point out" (see indication). Meaning "list of a book's contents" is first attested 1570s, from Latin phrases such as Index Nominum "Index of Names," index expurgatorius "specification of passages to be deleted from works otherwise permitted." Scientific sense (refractive index, etc.) is from 1829; economic sense (cost-of-living index, etc.) is from 1870, from the scientific usage, from sense "an indicator." The Church sense of "forbidden books" is from index librorum prohibitorum, first published 1564 by authority of Pius IV.
index (v.)
"compile an index," 1720, from index (n.). Related: Indexed; indexing.
双语例句
1. The FT 30 share index was up 16.4 points to 1,599.6.
《金融时报》30股指上涨16.4点，收于1,559.6点。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The index is the government's chief gauge of future economic activity.
这一指数是政府判断未来经济活动的主要依据。
来自柯林斯例句
3. He suffered a hairline fracture of the right index finger.
他右手食指骨裂。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Weeds are an index to the character of the soil.
杂草是反映土壤特征的一个指标。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The stock-market index fell by 80% before it began to recover.
