Indicate Meaning
/ˈɪndɪˌkeɪt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo point out; to discover; to direct to a knowledge of; to show; to make known.
verbTo show or manifest by symptoms.
Sentence Examples
Please, can you indicate this to me on the map?
Please indicate what action you will take.
Initial tests indicate the presence of oxygen.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The rising smoke will ____ that a fire has started somewhere in the forest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please ____ your preference for either chicken or fish on the wedding invitation card.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Latin indicātus, perfect passive participle of indicō (“to point out, indicate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from in- (“in, to”) + dicō (“to declare, (originally) to point”). See also diction and index.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"With just the turn of a shoulder she indicated the water front, where, at the end of the dock on which they stood, lay the good ship, Mount Vernon, river packet, the black smoke already pouring from her stacks."
— 1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen.[…]The second note, the high alarum, not so familiar and always important since it indicates the paramount sin in Man's private calendar, took most of them by surprise although they had been well prepared."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249:
"The willingness of the principals to forgo further argument as the triviality which it in fact is and to petition directly the chambers of the historical absolute clearly indicates of how little moment are the opinions and of what great moment the divergences thereof."
— 1985, Cormac McCarthy, chapter XVII, in Blood Meridian […] , →OCLC:
"Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction."
— 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
"It was strange to buy things I used to consider luxuries but were now medically indicated, like air conditioning and well-made shoes."
— 1990 February 4, Margy Dowzer, Mary Frances Platt, Aviva Shmuckler, “Disability And Accessibility Cost Money!”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 13:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The rising smoke will ____ that a fire has started somewhere in the forest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please ____ your preference for either chicken or fish on the wedding invitation card.