Glossary of English terms

Last update: 10 May 2026

Categories

  • 01 Types of indexes
  • 02 Process
  • 03 Persons
  • 04 Tools
  • 05 Entries and headings
  • 06 Locators
  • 07 Cross-references
  • 08 Sorting and alphabetization
  • 09 Findability and indexability
  • 10 Types of terms
  • 11 Layout and typography
  • 12 Search

Notes:

  • Italics or other styles as well as references to other terms or parts of a work in the original sources have not been retained here when quoted.
  • All non-quoted definitions and explanations were done by the Dictionary staff.
  • More than one meaning of a concept are indicated by (1), (2) behind terms and 1), 2), etc. within explanations.

01 Types of indexes

index

  1. “An alphanumerically or otherwise systematically ordered arrangement of entries, different from the order of the text of the indexed document, and designed to enable its users to locate information in the document.” (IAZ2: xvi)1
    Most indexes are in alphabetical order but there are indexes in other orders, e.g. in classified order.
  2. In Romance languages, the term is a homonym meaning both index as well as table of contents.

site index

An index to a website or intranet, structured like a book index but without the usual page numbers.

Not to be confused with a site map which is the equivalent of a table of contents for a website.

See also the examples of the term “link” in Category 06 for how clickable locators and cross-references in a site index look like.

linked index / active index / inter-active index

An index to an electronic document with clickable locators leading to indexed locations in the text and clickable cross-references leading to entries within the linked index.

See also the example of the term “link” in Category 06 for how clickable locators and cross-references in a linked index look like.

Example:

The index to NISO Z39.4-2021: Criteria for indexes.

06 Locators

annotated page number

An additional element attached to a page number and consisting of letters, numbers, or symbols which indicate a certain type of content.

Examples:

35n

35n5

35f

35fig

35t

35tab

35*

elided page range / conflated page range / inclusive numbers

A page range with a shortened number indicating the end of an indexed location.

Not used in German indexes.

Examples:

32–35

132–35

132–5

concatenator

A character, symbol, or word connecting the first and second part of a range.

Examples:

en dash in English and German ranges:

32–35

hyphen in Spanish ranges:

32-35

wave dash (tilde) in Japanese ranges:

32~35

to in Japanese ranges:

A-32 to A-35

undifferentiated locator

Locators 1) behind a main heading in an entry without subheadings but too long a locator string, or 2) behind a main heading in an entry with subheadings, or 3) behind a subheading in an entry without sub-subheadings but too long a locator string, or 4) behind a subheading in an entry with sub-subheadings.

Examples:

cars, 23, 27–32, 41–45, 65, 123–6

150, 152, 160, 177

cars, 23, 27–32, 65

insurance, 123–26, 177

repairs, 41–45

sales, 150, 152, 160

08 Sorting and alphabetization

chronological order

“The arrangement of headings according to their relation in time, generally from earliest to latest period.” (GT2: 14)2

Example:

Chinese dynasties

Tang

Ming

Qing

Quotation sources

FT: Stauber, Do Mi (2004). Facing the Text: Content and Structure in Book Indexing. Eugene/OR: Cedar Row Press.

GT2: Wellisch, Hans H. (2000). Glossary of Terminology in Abstracting, Classification, Indexing, and Thesaurus Construction, 2nd ed. Medford, NJ: Information Today.

IAW2: Rosenfeld, Louis and Morville, Peter (2002). Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 2nd ed. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.

IAZ2: Wellisch, Hans H. (1995). Indexing from A to Z, 2nd ed. New York/Dublin: H. W. Wilson.

IC: Browne, Glenda and Jermey, Jon (2007). The Indexing Companion. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

TI: Society of Indexers (SI) (eds.) (1958–). The Indexer: The International Journal of Indexing. Sheffield: SI. https://www.theindexer.org

Z39.4: National Information Standards Organization (NISO) (2021). NISO Z39.4-2021: Criteria for indexes. Baltimore, MD: NISO.
https://groups.niso.org/higherlogic/ws/public/download/25816/ANSI_NISO_Z39.94-2021_Criteria_for_Indexes.pdf

  1. IAZ2: Wellisch, Hans H. (1995). Indexing from A to Z, 2nd ed. New York/Dublin: H. W. Wilson. ↩︎
  2. GT2: Wellisch, Hans H. (2000). Glossary of Terminology in Abstracting, Classification, Indexing, and Thesaurus Construction, 2nd ed. Medford, NJ: Information Today. ↩︎