indicate. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

indicate

SYLLABICATION:	in·di·cate
PRONUNCIATION:	nd-kt
TRANSITIVE VERB:	Inflected forms: indi·cat·ed, indi·cat·ing, indi·cates 1. To show the way to or the direction of; point out: an arrow indicating north; indicated the right road by nodding toward it. 2. To serve as a sign, symptom, or token of; signify: “The cracking and booming of the ice indicate a change of temperature” (Henry David Thoreau). 3. To suggest or demonstrate the necessity, expedience, or advisability of: The symptoms indicate immediate surgery. 4. To state or express briefly: indicated his wishes in a letter; indicating her approval with a nod.
ETYMOLOGY:	Latin indicre, indict-, to show, from index, forefinger, indicator. See deik- in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:	indi·ca·tory (-k-tôr, -tr) —ADJECTIVE
SYNONYMS:	indicate, argue, attest, bespeak, betoken, testify, witness These verbs mean to give grounds for supposing or inferring the existence or presence of something: a fever indicating illness; a shabby house that argues poverty; paintings that attest the artist's genius; disorder that bespeaks negligence; melting snows that betoken spring floods; a comment testifying ignorance; a stunned silence that witnessed his shock.


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.