indicator

See also: Indicator

English

Etymology

From Late Latin indicātor (“one who points out”), from Latin indicō (“point out”); see indicate.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.dɪ.ˌkeɪ.tə(ɹ)/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

indicator (plural indicators)

1. A pointer or index that indicates something.
   • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 79:

     These old indicators [at Earl's Court station] show the destination of the next train by the appearance of an illuminated arrow next to the station name. The arrow may indicate that a train is going to Wimbledon, but it gives no clue as to when. Now, however, the indicators are supplemented by dot matrix panels that not only say where but also when. Why aren't the old ones removed? Because they, like the whole station, are Grade II listed.

2. A meter or gauge.
3. The needle or dial on such a meter.
4. (chemistry) Any of many substances, such as litmus, used to indicate the concentration of a substance, or the degree of a reaction.
5. (ecology) A plant or animal whose presence is indicative of some specific environment.
6. (economics) A measure, such as unemployment rate, which can be used to predict economic trends.
7. (UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, automotive) A 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.

   Synonyms: (informal) blinker, directional, directional signal, direction indicator, trafficator, turn indicator, (chiefly US) turn signal

8. A bird, the honeyguide.

Derived terms

• acid-base indicator
• airspeed indicator
• anagrind
• attitude indicator
• bank-and-turn indicator
• bite indicator
• chemical indicator
• dial indicator
• economic indicator
• global indicator
• indicator diagram
• indicator function
• indicator variable
• key performance indicator
• leading indicator
• ordinal indicator
• pH indicator
• rate of climb indicator
• rate-of-climb indicator
• redox indicator
• route indicator
• tactile ground surface indicator
• tactile walking surface indicator
• tone indicator
• turn-and-bank indicator

 

Related terms

• index
• indicate
• indication
• indicative

 

Translations

pointer

• Bulgarian: показалец (bg) m (pokazalec), стрелка (bg) f (strelka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 指示符 (zh) (zhǐshìfú)

• Esperanto: indikilo
• Estonian: indikaator, näitaja
• Finnish: osoitin (fi), indikaattori (fi)
• French: indicateur (fr) m
• German: Indikator (de) m, Anzeige (de) f
• Greek: δείκτης (el) m (deíktis)
• Hungarian: mutató (hu), -jelző (hu), jelzőkészülék (hu)
• Indonesian: indikator (id)
• Japanese: インジケータ (injikēta), インジケーター (injikētā), 指示薬 (ja) (しじやく, shijaku)
• Latvian: indikators m
• Macedonian: пока́зател m (pokázatel), стре́лка f (strélka)
• Norwegian: viser (no) m
• Polish: wskaźnik (pl) m
• Portuguese: indicador (pt) m
• Romanian: indicator (ro) m
• Russian: индика́тор (ru) m (indikátor), указа́тель (ru) m (ukazátelʹ)
• Swedish: indikator (sv) c
• Telugu: సూచిక (te) (sūcika)

meter or gauge

• Arabic: مُؤَشِّر m (muʔaššir)
• Bulgarian: индика́тор m (indikátor)
• Finnish: mittari (fi), mittalaite (fi)
• Greek: δείκτης (el) m (deíktis), μετρητής (el) m (metritís)
• Hungarian: -mérő (hu), mérőeszköz (hu), -óra (hu)
• Latvian: indikators m
• Norwegian: måler m
• Portuguese: indicador (pt) m
• Russian: индика́тор (ru) m (indikátor)
• Swedish: mätare (sv) c

needle or dial on a meter

• Bulgarian: стрелка (bg) f (strelka), скала (bg) f (skala)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 指針／指针 (zh) (zhǐzhēn)

• Danish: viser c
• Finnish: osoitin (fi), indikaattori (fi)
• French: aiguille (fr) f
• German: Zeiger (de) m
• Greek: δείκτης (el) m (deíktis)
• Hungarian: mutató (hu)
• Japanese: 針 (ja) (はり, hari)
• Latvian: rādītājs m
• Norwegian: viser (no) m
• Polish: wskazówka (pl) f
• Portuguese: ponteiro (pt) m
• Russian: стре́лка (ru) f (strélka), индика́тор (ru) m (indikátor)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: kazaljka (sh) f, cajger (sh) m (slang)

• Swedish: indikator (sv) c
• Telugu: సూచిక (te) (sūcika)

chemical

• Bulgarian: индикатор m (indikator)
• Finnish: indikaattori (fi)
• Greek: δείκτης (el) m (deíktis)
• Hungarian: indikátor (hu), savjelző, lúgjelző, jelzőanyag
• Korean: 유해물질 (yuhaemuljil)
• Latvian: indikators m
• Maori: taetohu
• Norwegian: indikator m
• Polish: wskaźnik (pl) m, indykator m
• Portuguese: indicador (pt) m
• Romanian: indicator (ro) m
• Russian: индика́тор (ru) m (indikátor)
• Swedish: indikator (sv) c (often used in combination)

indicative animal or plant

• Dutch: indicator (nl) m
• Finnish: indikaattorilaji
• Hungarian: indikátorfaj, indikátorszervezet
• Portuguese: indicador (pt) m

economic measure

• Bulgarian: показател (bg) m (pokazatel)
• Czech: ukazatel (cs) m
• Danish: nøgletal n, indikator c
• Dutch: indicator (nl) m
• Finnish: indikaattori (fi)
• Hungarian: jelzőszám (hu), mérőszám (hu), indikátor (hu), sarokszám (hu), mutató (hu)
• Latvian: rādītājs m, indikators m
• Norwegian: indikator m
• Portuguese: indicador (pt) m
• Romanian: indicator (ro) m
• Russian: указа́тель (ru) m (ukazátelʹ), индика́тор (ru) m (indikátor)
• Swedish: indikator (sv) c
• Telugu: సూచిక (te) (sūcika)

turn signal

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: թարթիչ (hy) (tʻartʻičʻ)
• Bulgarian: мигач m (migač)
• Catalan: indicador de gir m, intermitent (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 方向燈／方向灯 (fāngxiàngdēng), 指揮燈／指挥灯 (zhǐhuīdēng), 方向指示燈／方向指示灯 (fāngxiàng zhǐshìdēng)

• Czech: blinkr (cs) m
• Danish: blinklys n, retningsviser c (movable arm used in early cars)
• Dutch: richtingaanwijzer (nl) m, clignoteur (nl) m
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Faroese: blunkljós n
• Finnish: suuntavilkku (fi)
• French: clignotant (fr) m, signofile (fr) f (Switzerland)
• Galician: intermitente m
• German: (informal) Blinker (de) m; (slightly formal) Blinklicht n; (technical, official) Fahrtrichtungsanzeiger m, Blinkleuchte f
• Greek: δείκτης πορείας m (deíktis poreías)
• Hebrew: פנס איתות m (panás itút), וינקר m (vínker)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: index (hu), irányjelző (hu)
• Icelandic: stefnuljós n
• Indonesian: lampu sein (id)
• Irish: treotháscaire m
• Italian: freccia (it)
• Japanese: 方向指示器 (ほうこうしじき, hōkōshijiki), ウインカー (uinkā)
• Korean: 깜빡이 (kkamppagi)
• Latvian: gaismas signālierīce f, rādītājs m
• Macedonian: трепкач m (trepkač)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: blinklys (no) n, retningsviser m (obsolete)

  Nynorsk: blinklys n, blinkljos n

• Polish: kierunkowskaz (pl) m
• Portuguese: (Brazil) seta (pt) f; (Portugal) pisca-pisca (pt) m, pisca (pt) m
• Romanian: semnalizator (ro) n
• Russian: индика́тор (ru) m (indikátor) (поворо́та), указа́тель (ru) m (ukazátelʹ) (поворо́та), поворо́тник (ru) m (povorótnik)
• Scottish Gaelic: solas-tionndaidh m
• Serbo-Croatian: žmigavac (sh) m, migavac (sh) m
• Spanish: (Latin America) direccional f, (Spain) intermitente (es) m, (Spain) luz intermitente m, (Argentina) luz de giro f, indicador (es)
• Swedish: körriktningsvisare (sv) c, (colloquial) blinker (sv) c, blinkljus (sv)
• Thai: ไฟเลี้ยว (fai líeow)
• Turkish: sinyal (tr)
• Welsh: cyfeiriwr m

Further reading

• “indicator”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “indicator”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• anidrotic, cardiotin

Latin

Etymology

From indicō (“point out, indicate, show”) +‎ -tor, from in (“in, at, on; into”) + dicō (“indicate; dedicate; set apart”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /in.diˈkaː.tor/, [ɪn̪d̪ɪˈkäːt̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /in.diˈka.tor/, [in̪d̪iˈkäːt̪or]

Noun

indicātor m (genitive indicātōris); third declension

1. (Late Latin) Someone who points out.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	indicātor	indicātōrēs
Genitive	indicātōris	indicātōrum
Dative	indicātōrī	indicātōribus
Accusative	indicātōrem	indicātōrēs
Ablative	indicātōre	indicātōribus
Vocative	indicātor	indicātōrēs

Related terms

• index
• indicābilis
• indicātiō
• indicātīvus
• indicātūra
• indicīna
• indicium
• indicō
• indiculum

Descendants

• Catalan: indicador
• English: indicator
• French: indicateur
• Galician: indicador
• Italian: indicatore
• Portuguese: indicador
• Romanian: indicator
• Russian: индика́тор (indikátor)
• Spanish: indicador

Verb

indicātor

1. second/third-person singular future passive imperative of indicō

References

• “indicator”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• indicator in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• indicator in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French indicateur. Equivalent to indica +‎ -tor.

Noun

indicator n (plural indicatori)

1. indicator

Declension

Declension of indicator

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) indicator	indicatorul	(niște) indicatori	indicatorile
genitive/dative	(unui) indicator	indicatorului	(unor) indicatori	indicatorilor
vocative	indicatorule		indicatorilor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /indikaˈtoɾ/ [ĩn̪.d̪i.kaˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: in‧di‧ca‧tor

Noun

indicator m (plural indicatores)

1. honeyguide