| 释义 |
▪ I. index, n.|ˈɪndɛks|
Pl. indexes (also 7 index's) and indices |ˈɪndɪsiːz|.
[a. L. index, indic-em, pl. indicēs, the forefinger, an informer, sign, inscription, f. in- (in-2) + *dic- to point out: see indicate. Cf. F. index (16th c.).
In current use the plural is indices in senses 8, 9, and usually in other senses except 5, in which indexes is usual.]
1. The fore-finger: so called because used in pointing. Now chiefly Anat.
Also, in Comp. Anat., the corresponding digit of the fore-limb of a quadruped, or of the wing of a bird.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxix. (1495) 140 The seconde fyngre hyght Index..for by hym is moche shewynges made. 1594Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 43 The index or forfinger of your right hand. 1620Skelton Quix. IV. iv. 27 He..clapt the Index of his right Hand upon his Nose and Eye⁓brows. 1644Bulwer Chiron. 79 Both the Indexes joyn'd, and pyramidically advanced. 1758J. S. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. (1771) 269, I thrust the Index of my Left-Hand into the Cavity. 1825Sporting Mag. XVII. 36 Our hero longed to have his index upon the trigger. 1844Mrs. Browning Lady Geraldine's Courtship xxx, And the left hand's index droppeth from the lips upon the cheek. 1893Newton Dict. Birds 459 Index..in Birds always the best developed of the digits of the fore-limb.
2. a. A piece of wood, metal, or the like, which serves as a pointer; esp. in scientific instruments, a pointer which moves along a graduated scale (or which is itself fixed while a graduated scale moves across its extremity) so as to indicate movements or measurements. Cf. index v. 5.
1594Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 11 Let there be a sharpe index, that may point vpon a table of wood. 1613M. Ridley Magn. Bodies 115 So that his broad Index..may be set to point out the degrees of the altitude of the pole. 1667R. Towneley in Phil. Trans. II. 458 Marking above 40,000 Divisions in a Foot, by the help of two Indexes. 1715Desaguliers Fires Impr. 121 To know at sight in what manner the Holes are open..have an Index which takes up but little room. 1726tr. Gregory's Astron. I. 263 Having brought the Place of the Sun to the Meridian, bring the Index to twelve a Clock. 1727–41Chambers Cycl., Index of a Globe, is a little style fitted on to the north-pole and turning with it, pointing to certain divisions in the hour⁓circle. 1833J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 296 The graduated arch passes through the loop, until the index on the edge of the loop is opposite zero. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxv. 190 The magnet to arrange the index of the thermometer. 1863J. Watson Theory & Pract. Art of Weaving vi. 209 After the wheel is turned, the next process is to divide its circumference into as many divisions as will make up the number of teeth required; this is done by an index which is fixed on the spindle of the lathe. 1879J. J. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manipulation IV. v. 118 The index, is a steel spring or rod terminating in a point, which is inserted in any required series of holes, in any of the circles of the division plate, to retain the mandrel for the time, at rest, in certain relative positions. For example, to divide the work into 12 parts; the point of the index is placed successively in the holes 8. 16. 24. 32. etc. of the 96 circle..and while the mandrel is arrested at these points, the work is marked.
b. The arm of a surveying instrument; an alidade.
1571Digges Pantom. G. iij, Laye the line fiduciall of your index vppon the beginning of the degrees in your Quadrant. 1682Providence Rec. (1894) VI. 80, 2 sights for sirveiors worke belonging to an Jndex. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 81 Two Rulers or Indexes, one immoveable..and the other moveable. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §97 To the index of the Theodolite was screwed a ruler..this index-ruler being carried horizontally round..the index would mark the degree and minute of the circle in which it is placed. 1807Hutton Course Math. II. 54 An index, which is a brass two-foot scale, with either a small telescope, or open sights set perpendicularly on the ends. These sights and one edge of the index are in the same plane, and that is called the fiducial edge of the index.
3. a. The hand of a clock or watch; also, the style or gnomon of a sun-dial. Now rare.
1594Blundevil Exerc. iii. ii. x. (1636) 390 Untill the Index do justly touch the prick of some perfect houre. 1623Featly Fisher catch'd O ij*, No man can perceiue the index in a Watch, or finger in a Diall to wagge or stirre. 1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iv. iv. 324 If I should see a curious Watch..and should observe the exact disposition of the Spring, the String, the Wheels, the Ballance, the Index. 1817T. L. Peacock Melincourt xxxii, There was a sun-dial in the centre of the court; the sun shone on the brazen plate, and the shadow of the index fell on the line of noon. 1822J. Imison Sc. & Art I. 87 The showing the time is contrived by the motion of the indices or hands on the dial-plate.
fig.1635Swan Spec. M. ii. §2 (1643) 31 The Sunne (who is the Index of time, by whose revolution we account for years). 1742Young Nt. Th. ix. 1324 Pointing out Life's rapid..flight, With such an Index fair, as none can miss.
b. slang. The nose (cf. gnomon 1 c); or ? ‘the face’ (Farmer; cf. dial n. 6 c).
1817Sporting Mag. L. 53 He put in a sharp blow on the bridge of Randall's nose, so that it pinked the index of Paddy in an instant. 1818Ibid. (N.S.) II. 280 The handy work of Martin upon his opponent's index was now apparent. 1828Egan Finish to Tom & Jerry 48 (Farmer) Kind⁓hearted Sue! Bless her pretty index. [Cf. 4 b, quot. 1616.]
4. a. That which serves to direct or point to a particular fact or conclusion; a guiding principle.
1598Drayton Heroic. Ep. i. 103 Lest when my lisping guiltie Tongue should hault, My Lookes might prove the Index to my Fault. 1640Laud Let. to Chas. I in Biblioth. Reg. 41 This is the only index to us whereby that the blessing of God is present with you. 1747Scheme Equip. Men of War 26 His Services would be Indexes denoting his Merit. c1750Shenstone Elegies ii. 36 And readers call their lost attention home Led by that index where true genius shines. 1803J. Porter Thaddeus viii. (1831) 76 His uniform being black, he needed no other index than his pale and mournful countenance to announce that he was chief mourner. 1859Holland Gold F. i. 13 The proverbs of a nation furnish the index to its spirit and the result of its civilization. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. xxxviii. 52 They [amendments] are so instructive..as an index to present tendencies of American democracy. 1880Nature 19 Sept., One of the first indices to the solution of the question lies in the situation of the oil-bearing regions.
b. A sign, token, or indication of something.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 151 The square and flat Nose is the best signe and index thereof. 1616R. C. Times Whistle ii. 632 Man is to man a subject of deceite; And that olde saying is vntrue ‘the face Is index of the heart’. 1677Gale Crt. Gentiles II. iii. 193 Diodorus saith that Isis was wont to appear by night and to inject dreams..giving manifest indices of her presence. 1779J. Moore View Soc. Fr. (1789) I. xlii. 363 A sensible manly countenance..the true index of his character. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 211 A raised beach is therefore an index of elevation of the land. 1887Stevenson Misadv. J. Nicholson i. 3 His son's empty guffaws..struck him with pain as the indices of a weak mind.
5.
†a. A table of contents prefixed to a book, a brief list or summary of the matters treated in it, an argument; also, a preface, prologue. Obs.
b. An alphabetical list, placed (usually) at the end of a book, of the names, subjects, etc. occurring in it, with indication of the places in which they occur.
One work may have several indexes, e.g. an index of names of persons and places, of subjects, of words, etc. For these the Latin phrases index nominum, locorum, rerum, verborum are often employed as headings.
[1578Lyte Dodoens (heading), Index Latinorum nominum. Ibid., Index appellationum et nomenclaturarum omnium Stirpium [etc.]. Ibid., The Englishe Table conteyning the names and syrnames [etc.]. ]1580Fleming in Baret's Alv. Aaaa j, Which words, though expressed in this Index, are notwithstanding omitted..in this Aluearie. Ibid. Nnnn ij (heading), A briefe note touching the Prouerbiall Index. Ibid., Such Prouerbes as we haue..reduced into an Abecedarie Index or Table. a1593Marlowe Hero & Leand. ii. 129 As an index to a book So to his mind was young Leander's look. 1604Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 263 An Index and obscure prologue to the History of Lust. 1606― Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 343 In such Indexes, although small prickes To their subsequent Volumes [etc.]. 1632Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry iv. i, The index tells us the contents of stories, and directs to the particular chapters. 1699Bentley Phal. Pref. 79 No Learning..no Knowledge in Books, except Index's and Vocabularies. [1750–1Johnson Let. to Richardson 9 Mar. in Boswell, I wish you would add an index rerum, that when the reader recollects any incident, he may easily find it.] 1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. i. i. §3. 9 Books..which want all things, even an Index. [1888Athenæum 28 Jan. 112/3 The Royalist Composition Papers..of which Mr. Phillimore supplies a capital index nominum.]
fig.1641Hinde J. Bruen xviii. 57 He became as a very profitable Index to the family, to call to minde what they had learned. 1663J. Spencer Prodigies (1665) 71 God hath appointed..all the labors of Nature, as a kind of Indices to this great Volume of the World. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) II. 188 He is but an Index of Things and Words, that can direct where they are to be spoken with, but no further.
†c. A reference list. Obs.
1660Willsford Scales Comm. 209 Some men of very great Commerce and trading keep a Kalender, Register, or an Alphabeticall Index, of the names of Men, Wares, Ships. a1734North Lives (1826) I. 12 The master employed him to make an alphabetical index of all the verbs neuter.
d. Computers. A set of items each of which specifies one of the records of a file and contains information about its address.
1962Gloss. Terms Automatic Data Processing (B.S.I.) 27 Index, a sequence or array of items with keys, used to identify or locate records. 1970O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xvi. 261 The index can contain the addresses of all individual records, but if the file is ordered, it is usually more economic to make the index cruder. 1971R. L. Boyes et al. Introd. Electronic Computing viii. 201 An index is simply a shorthand substitute for the original information and is used to assist in the location of a given record... The general form of an index..will contain these two items: 1. The index term. This is the shorthand description of a stored record... 2. Record identification or location. This may be a document number or the physical address of the record described by the index term.
6. a. spec. (short for Index librorum prohibitorum). The list, published by authority, of books which Roman Catholics are forbidden to read, or may read only in expurgated editions.
Rules for the formation of such an Index (Regulæ Indicis) were formulated by the Council of Trent, in accordance with which an Index librorum prohibitorum (Index of prohibited books) was published by authority of Pius IV in 1564, and, with an Appendix, by Clement VIII in 1596; new editions, augmented with the names of later authors and books, have been published from time to time down to the present. This is the official ‘Index’. In its current form, it is a list, not only of works entirely prohibited to the faithful, but also of works not to be read, unless or until they are corrected (nisi or donec corrigantur); in the case of the latter, the portions to be deleted or altered are sometimes indicated.
(In first quot., short for Index expurgatorius: see b.)
1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 90 L. Vives..when he telleth tales out of Schoole, the good mans tongue is shortned, and their Index purgeth out that wherewith hee seeketh to purge their leaven. 1640Sir E. Dering Sp. on Relig. 23 Nov. iii. 7 The Roman Index is better then are our English Licences. 1676Marvell Mr. Smirke 10 We seem to have got an Expurgatory Press, though not an Index. 1791–1823D'Israeli Cur. Lit., Licensers of Press, The simple Index is a list of condemned books which are never to be opened. 1839[see congregation 10]. 1857Church Misc. Writ. (1891) I. 79 They [Montaigne's Essays] were..put in the Index. 1886Farrar Hist. Interpret. 320 His [Erasmus's] Colloquies were burnt in Spain and put on the Index at Rome.
fig.1882Spectator 7 Oct. 1289 She..read by stealth Shakespeare, at that time on the Index of a religiously narrow village opinion.
b. ‖ index expurgatorius (Lat.), Expurgatory Index, an authoritative specification of the passages to be expunged or altered in works otherwise permitted. Also transf. and fig.
The Regulæ of the Council of Trent provided for the expurgation of such books, and in accordance therewith an Index Expurgatorius was printed at Antwerp, under the authority of Philip II, in 1571 (reprints of which are referred to in quot. 1611), another under the authority of the Inquisitor General Quiroga at Madrid in 1584 (see quot. 1625), and others with the same or similar titles in various Roman Catholic states. A bull of Sixtus V (1585–90) also authorized the Cardinals chosen to deal with prohibited books to prepare ‘indices expurgatorios’. Such a work on a large scale was commenced at Rome 1607 (Bergamo 1608), with the title ‘Indicis librorum expurgandorum in studiosorum gratiam confecti Tomus I., in quo 50 auctorum libri præ cæteris desiderati emendantur, per F. Jo. Mariam Brasichell., Sacri Palatii Apostol. Magistrum’. This (which never proceeded beyond the first volume) is the work referred to in quot. 1620. (See, on the whole subject, Rev. J. Mendham Account of the Indexes, both prohibitory and expurgatory, 1826, Literary Policy of the Church of Rome, 1830 and 1844). In English use, the name Index Expurgatorius has often been applied to the Index librorum prohibitorum (cf. quot. 1845), especially in transf. and fig. uses.
1611Coryat Crudities 521 The Index expurgatorius printed at Geneua and Strasbourg. 1620Brent tr. Sarpi's Counc. Trent (1676) 875 In the year 1607, they printed in Rome with publick authority, a Book intituled Index Expurgatorius. 1625Ussher Answ. to Jesuit 513 Their old Expurgatory Index..set out by Cardinall Quiroga. 1691T. Browne Reas. Mr. Bays, etc. 13 (Stanf.) To prevent, Sir, all storms that might have issued from that quarter, I presently set me up an Index expurgatorius. 1788H. Walpole Remin. v. 42, I acquainted him with it..why he had been put into the queen's Index expurgatorius. 1845Thackeray Pict. Gossip in Misc. Ess. (1885) 260 Knowing well that Fraser's Magazine is eagerly read at Rome, and not..excluded in the Index Expurgatorius.
†7.
a. Music. = direct n. 2. Obs.
1597Morley Introd. Mus. 20 Phi. What is that which you haue set at the end of the Verse? Ma. It is called an Index or director; for looke in what place it standeth, in that place doth the first note of the next Verse stand. 1869Nuttall Dict. Sci. Terms 189 Index..in music, a character or director at the end of a stave to direct to the first note of the next stave.
b. Printing. = hand 18 b. ? Obs.
1727W. Mather Yng. Man's Comp. 38 Index is a Note like a Hand, with the Forefinger pointing out at something that is remarkable, thus ☛. 1807Crabbe Library 186 Till every former note and comment known, They mark'd the spacious margin with their own; Minute corrections proved their studious care; The little index, pointing, told us where.
8. Math.
a. Alg. A number or other symbol placed above and to the right of a quantity to denote a power or root: = exponent 2 a.
An integral index, as in x2, denotes a power; a fractional index, as in x½, a root; a negative index, the reciprocal of a power, as x-2 = unity divided by x2.
1674S. Jeake Arith. (1696) 191 Mark their Indices, or how many degrees the Number you would produce is removed from the Root, as whether it be second, third, fourth, etc. 1748Hartley Observ. Man. i. iii. 279 Algebraic Signs for Addition, Subtraction, Indexes, Coefficients. 1810Hutton Course Math. I. 163 So 3 is the index of the cube or 3d power, and..1/3 is the index of the cube root. 1859Barn. Smith Arith. & Algebra (ed. 6) 198 The figures 2, 3,..m, denoting the number of factors which produce the powers, are called Indices.
†b. The integral part, or characteristic, of a logarithm. Obs.
1678Phillips (ed. 4) s.v., In Logarithmical Arithmetick Index is that which represents the distance of the first figure of any whole number from Unity. 1727–41Chambers Cycl., Index, in arithmetic, is the same with what is otherwise called the characteristic, or exponent of a logarithm. 1795Hutton Math. Dict. II. 46/1 The Index is also called the Characteristic of the Logarithms, and is always an integer, either positive or negative, or else = 0. 1828J. H. Moore Pract. Navig. (ed. 20) 25 Whatever index you make represent unity, omit it in the sum of the indices.
c. Applied to the number which is characteristic of a particular member, or group of members, of a class of geometrical or algebraical concepts; as the index of a point, line, or plane, relatively to a quadric surface. discriminantal index: see discriminantal.
d. Computers. A quantity which is fixed in relation to the set of operations laid down by a program but which assumes a prescribed sequence of values as the program is run; spec. (a) one held in an index register and used to modify the addresses of instructions; (b) one in a DO statement (in Fortran) or a FOR statement (in Algol) that is used to control the number of repetitions of a sequence of instructions. Freq. attrib., esp. denoting the portion of an instruction specifying the appropriate index register (see also index register in 11 below).
1957D. D. McCracken Digital Computer Programming viii. 99 Instructions which call for an index to be added are written with the one or two following the address. 1959J. W. Carr in E. M. Grabbe et al. Handbk. Automation, Computation & Control II. ii. 51 When the values of the bound variables (usually indices) that assume a sequence of different values during the course of a problem solution change..such variables are changed in actual, although not notational value. By a change in such an index, therefore, no change is made in the flow diagram notation, although the actual value of free or floating variables will change. Ibid. 55 Many artificial instruction codes..use such index registers to speed up hand programming. A certain portion of every instruction word is used to designate just how that particular instruction is to be modified with respect to one or more such special locations, which have been filled with specified values of an index. 1961Leeds & Weinberg Computer Programming Fund. vi. 177 Flow diagrams will be generally easier to follow if we can represent our control logic in enumerative terminology. To do this we make use of an index rather than an actual computed quantity on the flow diagram to show the count. 1962Y. Chu Digital Computer Design Fund. xii. 454 The amount of change of an address, called the index value, is stored in an index register. Ibid., The number in the index field [of an instruction] designates the index register selected. 1962Huskey & Korn Computer Handbk. xx. 29 The index is not always added, so there is an address modifier..which determines whether the index is to be added to the address or not. 1966B. A. M. Moon Computer Programming vii. 117 Within the range of the DO no statement is permitted which alters the value of the index. 1969V. J. Calderbank Course on Programming in FORTRAN IV iv. 36 The DO statement automatically causes execution of all the statements following it up to and including the statement labelled n for values of i from m1 in steps of m3... The counter i is sometimes referred to as the index of the loop. 1969Index bit [see index v. 6]. 1969C. W. Gear Computer Organization & Programming ii. 53 There are four items of information to be specified—the start of the loop in memory (X), the initial value of the index (o), the increment (1), and the end condition on the index (999). 1970O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing vi. 101 The character..in the last position means that the content of the corresponding index register is to be added to the address... The last position of the instruction can be called the ‘index tag’.
e. Computers. One of a continuous sequence of numbers each of which specifies one of an ordered set of items.
1962R. V. Oakford Introd. Electronic Data Processing Equipment iv. 101 Assume that 15 independent quantities are stored in memory registers 0016 through 0030 and that another 15 independent quantities are stored in registers 0031 through 0045. The location of the ith register in the first set may be designated as Ai, while that of the second set may be designated as Bi; then i can be considered as an index that assumes the values 1, 2, 3,{ddd}, 14, 15. Thus Ai is equal to 0016. 1972H. S. Stone Introd. Computer Organization vi. 120 The FORTRAN statement dimension x(100) creates an array named x with 100 elements such that the first has index 1 and the last has index 100.
9. In various sciences, a number or formula expressing some property, form, ratio, etc. of the thing in question.
a. Optics. index of refraction or refractive index (of a medium), the ratio between the sines of the angles of incidence and refraction of a ray of light passing from some medium (usually air) into the given medium.
1829Hand-bk. Nat. Philos., Optics ii. 4 The number 1.336, which regulates the refraction of water, is called its index, or exponent, or co-efficient of refraction, and some⁓times its refractive power. 1871Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (1879) I. xi. 340 The media must possess different refractive indices.
b. In Craniometry, A formula expressing the ratio of one diameter or other dimension of the skull to another, as alveolar index or basilar index, cephalic index, facial index, gnathic index, nasal index, orbital index, vertical index. Also, generally, in Anthropometry, The ratio of two dimensions of an organ or part to each other.
1866Huxley Preh. Rem. Caithn. 83 The term cephalic index..indicates the ratio of the extreme transverse to the extreme longitudinal diameter of a skull, the latter measurement being taken as unity. 1882Quain Anat. (ed. 9) I. 82 The proportion of this [the height of the skull] to the length..is the index of height. Ibid. 83 The nasal index of Broca. Ibid., The orbital index is the ratio of the vertical height of the base of the orbit to the transverse width.
c. Cryst. Each of the three (or, in Bravais' notation, four) whole numbers which define the position of a face of a crystal.
1868Dana Min. Introd. 28 Miller..uses the letters h, l, k, as ‘indices’ referring to the axes. 1878Gurney Crystallogr. 18 The three numbers h, k, and l are called the indices of the plane, and the three together hkl is called its symbol. 1895Story-Maskelyne Crystallogr. 472 The introduction of the fourth index [in Bravais' notation].
d. Dynamics. index of friction, the coefficient of friction: see coefficient 2 b.
e. Econ. A number showing the variation (increase or decrease) in the prices or value of some specified set of goods, shares, etc., since a chosen ‘base’ period (often represented by the number 100), as a retail price index, a cost-of-living index, etc. Cf. Dow-Jones.
1886Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1885 872 The index for quantity is the same as that for value in the standard year (1883); that for 1884 is arrived at by dividing the value index by the price index, and is shown in the last column. 1922Encycl. Brit. XXX. 759/1 Suppose that the modification of diet (margarine instead of butter, decrease of sugar and eggs and increase of other foods) reduces the food index to 260,..and the index is 200 instead of 305. 1927[see cost n.2 1 e]. 1942J. R. Hicks Social Framework xv. 160 The most famous of all British index-numbers is the cost-of-living index published by the Ministry of Labour. The basket of goods on which this index is based is supposed to be that consumed in a week by a representative working-class family. It is thus an index of very fundamental importance... It covers a large part of the field which would be covered by the ideal index which we should desire to have for measuring the national income in real terms. 1955Times 31 Aug. 9/3 Their members have expressed lack of confidence in the index as a measurement of their living costs. 1958Spectator 22 Aug. 261/2 Industrial equity shares touched bottom—161·5 for the index. 1969Daily Tel. 13 June 3 The index would have dropped say 12 points, War Loan would have continued its downhill march. 1972Accountant 28 Sept. 398/1 When the heaviest Index fall in a day is accompanied by a reduction in the number of Stock Exchange recorded bargains to under 8,000, it can only be assumed that the vast bulk of the 8,000 deals was the same selling way. 1973Daily Tel. 12 Apr. 21/3 The provisional price index of goods manufactured for the home market rose by just over 0·25 p.c., compared with 0·5 p.c. in both January and February.
10. [f. index v. 5.] A movement from one predetermined position to another during the indexing of a work-piece.
1962G. H. DeGroat Metalworking Automation v. 120 (caption) Another ‘homemade’ automated machine is this eight-spindle Borematic with two banks of four spindles each. This one bores, chamfers, and grooves servo valve bodies, finishing two parts per index at 100 pieces per hour. 1964Automobile Engineer LIV. 200/2 After each index, the table is positively locked.
11. attrib. and Comb., as index-face, index-maker, index-making, index-map, index-point, index-ruler; index arm, index crank, index pin, index spindle (all parts of an index head or used in indexing (sense 2)); also index-arm = sense 2 b; index board, a type of heavy paper as used for index cards; index card, a card for a card-index file; index centre Engin., each of the centres (sense 5) that support work for indexing; index circle Engin., one of the circles of holes on an index plate; index constituency, a constituency in which the result of an election is considered a good indication of the state of parties in the country; index-correction, a correction for index-error; index-digit = sense 1; index-error, the constant error in the reading of a mathematical instrument, due to the zero of the index not being exactly adjusted to that of the limb; index figure Econ. = sense 9 e above; index-finger, (a) = sense 1; (b) = sense 2; index fossil = guide fossil (guide n. 14); index-gauge, a measuring instrument in which the distance between the measuring-points is shown by an index; index-glass, a mirror at the fixed point of the index-arm in an astronomical or surveying instrument, from which the light is reflected to the horizon-glass; index-hand = senses 2 and 3; index head Engin., an attachment used with a milling machine or gear-cutting machine that holds the work and enables it to be readily and accurately indexed between successive operations; index horizon Geol., a horizon distinguished by certain groups of fossils found within it, or other characteristics which make it an indicator of a particular stratigraphic position; index-hunter, one who acquires information by consulting indexes; so index-hunting; index-knowledge, index-learning, information gained by means of indexes, superficial knowledge; index law (Alg.): see quot. 1859; index-linked a., designating bonds, pensions, etc., of which the value is adjusted according to the level of the cost-of-living index or some other economic indicator; cf. indexation; also [as back-formation] index-link v. trans., to make dependent on such an index; index-linking vbl. n.; index machine, a machine for fancy-weaving, being a modification of the Jacquard loom; index map, a relatively small-scale map which is so marked as to act as an index to a series of more detailed maps; index number, (a) = sense 9 e above; (b) a number in an index; spec. the registration number of a motor vehicle; index-pip, a miniature indication of the denomination of a playing-card, placed in the left-hand corner for convenience in sorting; index plate, (a) (see quot. 1825); (b) Engin., a disc that contains regularly spaced holes arranged in concentric circles, which represent different divisions of a circle and determine the possible angular positions of work being indexed; (c) a plate bearing the registration number of a motor vehicle; index-raker = index-hunter; index register Computers, a register whose contents may be added to or subtracted from the address portion of an instruction before the instruction is executed and then (by means of a second instruction) increased or decreased by a prescribed amount, so enabling the first instruction to be used for a series of identical operations on a series of different operands.
1879Newcomb & Holden Astron. 92 The *index-arm carries the index-glass. 1919H. Thompson Mod. Engin. Workshop Pract. xi. 173 By turning this index arm and spindle, motion is given to the worm and worm-wheel.
1937E. J. Labarre Dict. Paper 160/1 *Index board or Bristol also termed Fourdrinier Bristol is (1) (card-) board resembling a heavy ledger specially adapted for this purpose...(2) also a size of board 30½{pp} × 25½{pp}. 1962F. T. Day Introd. to Paper 116/2 Index boards are made in white and tints with an even and well-finished surface...Stock size is 20½ in. × 35½ in., also cut sizes.
1928Funk's Stand. Dict., *Index card. 1947Partisan Rev. XIV. 469 He placed the books down on the main desk, stuck the envelope of index cards and cross-references under his arm and walked out. 1971Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. LXXXV. 52 Ss were supplied with 3 × 5 inch white unlined index cards.
a1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 434/1 The tool-post can be removed from the sliding table, and *index centers, milling vise, or any milling fixture put on, required for milling. 1913Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. (ed. 4) 439 Index centres, the head, and the tail stock between which work is carried to be pitched or indexed. 1953L. E. Doyle Metal Machining ix. 214 Index centers provide means for spacing cuts accurately around a workpiece.
1902Internat. Library of Technol. II. §15. 23 For convenience of measuring fractional parts of a turn of different values, as 3/5 of a turn, 5/17 of a turn,..etc., the index plate is provided with several concentric *index circles, each circle having a different number of holes. 1950J. Martin in A. W. Judge Machine Tools & Operations III. iii. 142 In ordinary plain indexing, the use of 30 holes in a 42-hole index circle would give 42/30 × 40 = 56 divisions in work.
1888Pall Mall G. 13 Nov. 4/1 Aston Manor is not only a Midland constituency, but it is emphatically an *index constituency.
1905T. R. Shaw Machine Tools vi. 415 Forty revolutions of the *index crank are required to make one complete revolution of the spindle. 1964S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes vi. 172 Indirect Indexing... When using this method of indexing the worm is permanently engaged with the worm wheel, and the workpiece is rotated by means of the index-crank.
1843–55Owen Anat. Vertebr. (L.), The Pottos..offer an anomaly, in the fore⁓hand, by the stunted phalanges of the *index digit.
1851–9Airy in Man. Sci. Enq. 1 The *index-error of the sextant must be carefully ascertained. 1875Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. v. (ed. 2) 152 Taking the angles off and on the arc, adding them together, and dividing by 2, gives an angle free of index error.
1664Butler Hud. ii. iii. 284 Quote Moles and Spots, on any place O' th' body, by the *Index-face.
1927*Index figure [see costing vbl. n.]. 1930Engineering 3 Jan. 23/3 The index figure of 100 being given to Great Britain in both cases.
1849Thackeray Pendennis II. i, Jeames simply pointed with his *index finger to the individual. 1875R. Routledge Discov. (1876) 12 The index-finger and graduated scale are seen, protected by a glass plate.
1900C. R. Eastman tr. Zittel's Text-bk. Palaeontol. I. 4 Having determined the chronological succession of the clastic rocks by means of their super⁓imposition and their characteristic or *index-fossils, they may be divided up into still smaller series. 1933R. C. Moore Historical Geol. xiv. 186 In precise correlation of fossil-bearing strata it is important to recognize and differentiate species that appear only in a given bed, or a short succession of beds, for the occurrence of the same species elsewhere points to equivalence in age of the containing strata. Such fossils may be termed index fossils. 1968J. R. Beerbower Search for Past (ed. 2) viii. 207 Relatively few groups of organisms provide most of the index fossils.
1773Gentl. Mag. XLIII. 390 The *index-glass being bent by the brass frame that contains it. 1828J. H. Moore Pract. Navig. (ed. 20) 152 If the arch seen direct, together with its reflected image, appear to be in one line, the Index-glass is truly adjusted.
1742Pope Dunc. iv. 140 A Spectre rose, whose *index-hand Held forth the virtue of the dreadful wand. 1812Woodhouse Astron. viii. 53 The index-hand of the sidereal clock.
1902*Index head [see indexing vbl. n. 2]. 1923R. C. H. Heck Mechanics of Machinery: Mechanism v. 234 Indexing is done mostly on the milling machine and on gear cutting machines. For general service a distinct appliance called the index head is used. 1961L. E. Doyle et al. Manuf. Processes xxiv. 586 A dividing or index head is a mechanical device for dividing a circle accurately into equal parts.
1956W. Edwards in D. L. Linton Sheffield 13 No marine horizons are known, but a widespread *index-horizon with Euestheria, the Low ‘Estheria’ Band, overlies a split-off lower leaf of the Silkstone Coal. 1969Bennison & Wright Geol. Hist. Brit. Isles ix. 224 The marine horizons (called marine bands) are sometimes of great lateral extent and act as vitally important index horizons.
1751Smollett Per. Pic. xlii. (1779) II. 57 He rated him in his own mind as a mere *index-hunter.
1699Bentley Phal. xii. 381 Mr. B. declares more than once, that he despises the mean Employment of *Index-hunting.
1859G. Boole Different. Equations 373 The *index law, expressed by the equation ma mb = ma+b.
1728Pope Dunc. i. 279 How *index-learning turns no student pale, Yet holds the eel of science by the tail.
1974Daily Tel. 8 Aug. 6/2 If it becomes necessary..to *index-link a large proportion of their deposits some form of index linking of mortgages would have to be considered. 1975Economist 4 Jan. 67 The Shah has long advocated that oil prices..should be index-linked, preferably to the prices of 20 to 30 key commodities. 1984Which? Jan. 3/1 They may also have persuaded you to swap to a new-for-old policy, and they've probably index-linked the amount you're insured for.
1970Guardian Weekly 14 Nov. 9/5 The scope for cutting any kind of tax is therefore limited unless some incentive to save can be invented. An *index-linked bond might provide such an incentive. 1976Listener 15 Jan. 41/1 There are more than one would think, in the private sector, who also have index-linked pensions. 1986Economist 3 May 31/2 Index-linked capital from Nationwide building society is financing an Oxford scheme for the homeless.
1974Daily Tel. 14 June 19/8 *Index-linking is one of a number of propositions being considered by the Government to attract and retain National Savings. 1985Investors Chron. 8–14 Nov. 33/2 The 3rd issue..pay a tax-free compound rate of 3.54 per cent over five years, on top of index-linking of capital.
1831Macaulay Johnson Misc. 1860 II. 273 Starving pamphleteers and *index-makers.
1869Dunkin Midn. Sky 1 The assistance of the corresponding *index-maps. 1932Discovery May 153/1 As large a selection of the recorded information as the smaller scales will carry is issued on the standard scale of one inch, and with further selection and reduction, on the 1/4 inch scale of the ‘index map’.
1875W. S. Jevons Money & Mechanism of Exchange xxv. 332 A table containing the Total *Index Number of prices, or the arithmetical sum of the numbers expressing the ratios of the prices of many commodities to the average prices of the same commodities in the years 1845–50. 1886Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1885 871 The index number for the price of each article in 1883 is 1 or 100, according to the use or otherwise of the decimal point. 1887Encycl. Brit. XXII. 466/1 The only matter connected with price which it is necessary to refer to here is the theory of the index number. 1893Jrnl. Soc. Arts 3 Feb. 211/2 This total index number..merged all prices high and low in a single figure. 1900A. L. Bowley Wages in U.K. in 19th Cent. xii. 95 (caption) Index numbers, showing rate of Change of Wages in the London Building Trades. 1928J. W. F. Rowe Wages in Pract. & Theory 14 Index numbers based on changes in the nominal weekly rates in these industries afford a general guide to the character of wage fluctuations. 1942[see sense 9 e above]. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. III. 233/1 The distribution of coal by rank, geologic age, and district is indicated in Fig. 4. The index numbers, which refer to coal districts, are grouped by continent and country in the accompanying list. 1973Daily Tel. 11 July 6/6 He admitted owning a car which had an index number identical to one Miss Mallalieu had noted.
1905T. R. Shaw Machine Tools vi. 413 If the *index pin does not come exactly opposite a hole, there is an adjustment by means of two screws.
1899Let. fr. T. De La Rue & Co., [For these] Playing Cards, the proper term is ‘with *index-pips’.
1825*Index plate [see index-point below]. 1879Jrnl. Franklin Inst. CVIII. 106 The making of practically perfect index plates for gear cutting machines is a different matter from graduating circles for astronomical instruments. 1902Index plate [see index circle]. 1923R. C. H. Heck Mechanics of Machinery: Mechanism v. 235 At the other end of the worm shaft [of the index head] is the index crank C, with handle H and plunger pin Q which can be let into any hole in index plate P. 1950J. Martin in A. W. Judge Machine Tools & Operations III. iii. 131 By the use of worm-gearing, the indirect dividing head can space work up to 360 divisions, using standard index plates. 1973Daily Tel. 15 Sept. 2/5 He noticed that the index plates..had been hurriedly removed from another vehicle.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 526 A change of place in the *index-point on the graduated arch or index-plate.
1676R. Dixon Two Testam. To Rdr. 15 Not stuffing my Margin, as *Index-Rakers do, with Quotations of Divines, Philosophers, Lawyers, Historians, etc.
1955R. K. Richards Arithmetic Operations in Digital Computers xi. 348 In these machines..each instruction specifies an *index register as well as an operation and an address. For each operation, the number stored in the indicated index register is automatically added to the address, and the sum is then the actual address which is used. 1957,1970Index register [see indexing vbl. n. 3]. 1970O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing vi. 101 In most modern computers address modification and counting is facilitated by index registers.
1793*Index-ruler [see 2 b above].
a1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 494/2 The centers are shown..attached to the *index-spindle.
▪ II. index, v.|ˈɪndɛks|
[f. prec. n.]
1. a. trans. To furnish (a book, etc.) with an index. Also transf. (cf. index n. 5 d).
1720Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 522 Since the Letters are not indexed, I cannot point out all the places. a1832Scott in Lockhart xvii, There were always huge piles of materials to be arranged, sifted, and indexed. 1851Carlyle Sterling ii. ii. (1872) 103 Sterling's Letters..a large collection of which now lies before me, duly copied and indexed. 1885Law Times LXXIX. 159/1 The contents are exceedingly well indexed. 1969C. W. Gear Computer Organization & Programming vi. 242 Each time that a file was completed, the system would index it; that is, its name would be placed in a table of file names..with an indication of where it was physically located. 1969P. B. Jordain Condensed Computer Encycl. 242 If the cylinder index becomes too long, a master index may be created to index it.
b. To furnish (the parts of a diagram) with different symbols to facilitate identification in the accompanying description.
1894Harper's Mag. Mar. 552/1 The accompanying diagram of an abstract flower, the various parts being indexed.
2. To enter (a word, name, etc.) in an index.
1761Descr. S. Carolina Pref., Every material Fact or Circumstance in this Description is indexed under its proper Head. 1848Fraser's Mag. XXXVIII. 364 In many German universities the Amber Witch was indexed as a criminal law book.
3. To place on the Index: see index n. 6.
1791–1823D'Israeli Cur. Lit., Licensers of Press, While the Catholic crossed himself at every title, the heretic would purchase no book which had not been indexed.
4. To serve as an index of, to indicate. Also to index out, to point out.
1788Burns His face with smile 4 High as they hang with creaking din To index out the Country Inn. 1862R. H. Patterson Ess. Hist. & Art 350 These changes indexed the general turning of the European intellect from Mind to Matter, and from Man to Nature. 1885Century Mag. XXIX. 683/2 A slender, bony negro-man; whose iron-gray wool and wrinkled face indexed his age at near seventy years.
5. Engin.
a. trans. (Cf. quot. 1879 s.v. index n. 2.) To rotate (work to be machined, or a machine part) through a given aliquot part of a complete turn; to position in accordance with intermittent motion of this kind; hence, to transfer or move from one predetermined position to another in order that different locations may be machined or different operations performed. (Cf. indexing vbl. n. 2.)
1902[implied in indexing vbl. n. 2]. 1913[see index centre s.v. index n. 11]. 1936Colvin & Stanley Drilling & Surfacing Pract. xxii. 242 Turning the indexing crank without this geared connection indexes the spindle in any desired number of graduations, or parts of a circle. 1951H. C. Town in Gen. Engin. Workshop Pract. (ed. 2) iii. 112/2 A spring-loaded plunger..locates the turret in any one of four positions... To index the turret, the ball handle is revolved and the screw lifts the turret clear of the locating plunger, so that it can be rotated to the next..position, and then locked in position. 1953L. E. Doyle Metal Machining ix. 214 The workpiece is turned by means of the worm and wheel and is indexed by the pin that registers in holes in the face of the worm wheel. Ibid. xiii. 298 On a dividing head with a 40 to 1 ratio, one full turn of the crank is needed to index a 40 tooth gear from one tooth space to the next. 1959Machinery XCIV. 511/2 Spacing of the holes axially along the length of the rod is accomplished by indexing the rod vertically in 0·026-in. steps by means of an accurate lead-screw. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. VII. 407/2 When the turret [of the lathe] is indexed for successive operations, the saddle acts as a guide for the ram in its strokes to and from the work.
b. trans. To produce or obtain (a desired number of divisions or operations) by indexing.
1900Machinery (N.Y.) Nov. 88/2 For indexing prime numbers we must use other than the one-hole basis. 1923R. C. H. Heck Mechanics of Machinery: Mechanism v. 237 The test or criterion of ability to index any number n is expressed by putting Eq. (89) into the form c = 40 × h/n. 1936Colvin & Stanley Drilling & Surfacing Pract. xxii. 242 The index sector is a great convenience in counting holes to index the required number of divisions. 1961L. E. Doyle et al. Manuf. Processes xxiv. 587 Several means are available for indexing numbers not obtainable with standard plain indexing, especially large numbers.
c. intr. To move or travel during indexing.
1901Machinery (N.Y.) Jan. 147/1 To divide into 91 parts, index forward, on the front side of the plate, six spaces on the 39 circle; then index forward on the back of the plate, 14 spaces on the 49 circle. 1953L. E. Doyle Metal Machining xiii. 298 The crank must be turned 40 {div} 36 = 14/36 = 11/9 turns to index from one space to another on the gear. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. VII. 409/1 A horizontal, circular table holding the rotating chucks indexes under the vertical spindles with a different operation being performed at each station. 1968Boothroyd & Redford Mechanized Assembly ii. 8 With continuous transfer the work carriers are moving at constant speed whilst the workheads index backwards and forwards. Ibid. 13 Reciprocation of the transfer bar over a distance equal to the spacing of the workheads will cause the work carriers to index between the workheads.
6. Computers. To modify (an instruction or its address) by causing the contents of a specified index register to be added to the address before the instruction is executed; to provide with a number that brings about such modification; also, to carry out (a repetitive sequence of operations) by this means.
1962Y. Chu Digital Computer Design Fund. xii. 454 Its contents are used to modify the address of the instruction to be indexed. 1962R. V. Oakford Introd. Electronic Data Processing Equipment iii. 89 The counter may be added to the operand address of an instruction to index the repeated performance of an operation on a sequence of registers. 1969C. W. Gear Computer Organization & Programming ii. 52 We can indicate this in our program writing by using Y to mean the unindexed address Y (that is, the index bits are o) and by using Y,I to mean the address Y indexed by index register I. 1972Bergman & Bruckner Introd. Computers & Computer Programming vii. 204 Since this instruction is indexed, its effective operand is ooo (operand) + 251 (contents of index register) = 251 (effective operand and address of xi).
Hence ˈindexer, one who compiles an index.
1856Webster, Indexer. 1882Furnivall Forewords to E.E. Wills 16 May all opprest Indexers hav the like sweet consolement! 1887Sat. Rev. 24 Sept. 418/2 The classifier and indexer of natural objects. |
