indexical.

1. Having a reference that depends on the speaker or circumstances in which an expression is used.

2. A word, sign, or feature that points to a particular context, speaker, or associated thing.

3. Signifying through an actual connection with the thing represented, rather than only through resemblance or convention.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• indexical expression
• indexical reference
• indexical words

On the page

The indexical word here identifies a different place when each witness speaks.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal / analytical. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Normally non-gradable; no ordinary comparative or superlative.. Noun singular indexical; plural indexicals. Commonness: uncommon (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: MW verifies context-varying adjective, speaker-associated features, and count noun; Oxford supports index-sign linkage and MW usage supports photographic traces. Overflow scope is flagged. Writing functions: semantic analysis, language and rhetoric, conceptual distinction.