Word
indices
Phoneticsin·dices
US/ˈɪndəsɪz/
UK/ˈɪndɪsˌiːz/
Definition
n. the plural form of 'index'. It refers to lists of information or signs that show how something is changing.
n. the plural of 'index', referring to alphabetical lists of names or subjects with page references, or to statistical measures of change in economy or science.
Examples
“The researcher checked the indices of several books.”
“Economists use various price indices to track how much the cost of living increases over time.”
“The library's digital indices allow scholars to cross-reference thousands of manuscripts that were previously catalogued only in separate, physical volumes.”
Examples
simple
“The researcher checked the indices of several books.”
contextual
“Economists use various price indices to track how much the cost of living increases over time.”
complex
“The library's digital indices allow scholars to cross-reference thousands of manuscripts that were previously catalogued only in separate, physical volumes.”
Usage
The plural 'indices' is preferred in technical, mathematical, and financial contexts, whereas 'indexes' is more common for books.
Pitfall
the book's indices
the book's indexes
While 'indices' is technically correct, 'indexes' is the standard plural for back-of-book lists in general English.
Real-World Examples
“The move followed a positive lead from Wall Street, after US indices recovered as recent worries around inflation and surging bond market yields eased.” “Suddenly your movie-ticketing app might start to look more like those “how many have you seen?” visual indices printed in the back of Broadway Playbills.” Etymology
From Latin indicēs.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/indices