English
indice
Indice comes from Latin indicium ‘indication, sign, proof, token’, from iūdicō ‘to judge’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-1‘straight, upright, right’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwos1uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowos1‘court of law’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūs1‘law, right’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdex1‘judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdicō2‘to judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicō3‘indicate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindicō3‘point out, indicate, show’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindex3‘indicator’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindicium4‘indication, sign, proof, token’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400indice4
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1638indice4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin iudico
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin dico, which cites de Vaan
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin indicium
- 4 Wiktionary, English indice
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1638, Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Under-woods. Consisting of Divers Poems. (please specify the: “You know (without my flatt'ring you) too much /…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-Wiktionary, Latin iudico‘straight, upright, right’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwosWiktionary, Latin iudicouncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowosWiktionary, Latin iudico‘court of law’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūsWiktionary, Latin iudico‘law, right’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdexWiktionary, Latin iudico‘judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdicōWiktionary, Latin dico, which cites de Vaan‘to judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicōWiktionary, Latin indicium‘indicate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindicōWiktionary, Latin indicium‘point out, indicate, show’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindexWiktionary, Latin indicium‘indicator’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindiciumWiktionary, English indice‘indication, sign, proof, token’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400indiceWiktionary, English indice
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1638indiceWiktionary, English indice. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1638, Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Under-woods. Consisting of Divers Poems. (please specify the: “You know (without my flatt'ring you) too much /…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’
yet, jurist, injurious, 21 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yéwos
justify, justification, injustice, 20 more
through Proto-Italic *jowos ‘court of law’
through Latin iūs ‘law, right’
through Latin iūdex ‘judge’
through Latin iūdicō ‘to judge’
judge, judgment, judicial, judiciary, prejudice, judicious, adjudicate, judicature, 10 more
through Latin dicō ‘indicate’
preach, dictionary, predict, dedication, dictator, addict, contradictory, contradiction, dictate, ditto, dedicate, contradict, predicament, predicate, ditty, diction, dictum, interdict, dict, 24 more
through Latin indicō ‘point out, indicate, show’
through Latin index ‘indicator’
Today it means
noun index
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “indice”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin iudico, Latin dico, Latin indicium. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- / indice