indicium

English

Etymology

From Latin indicium.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈdɪʃɪəm/, /ɪnˈdɪsɪəm/

Noun

indicium (plural indicia or indiciums)

1. An indication; a sign.
   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 431:

     that dim continuum cannot be as sensually groped for, tasted, harkened to, as Veen's Hollow between rhythmic beats; but it shares with it one remarkable indicium: the immobility of perceptual Time.

Latin

Etymology

From index (“indicator”), from indicō (“point out, indicate, show”), from in (“in, at, on; into”) + dicō (“indicate; dedicate; set apart”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /inˈdi.ki.um/, [ɪn̪ˈd̪ɪkiʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /inˈdi.t͡ʃi.um/, [in̪ˈd̪iːt͡ʃium]

Noun

indicium n (genitive indiciī or indicī); second declension

1. information, evidence, discovery, notice

   Synonyms: nūntius, fāma, notitia

2. reward for information
3. indication, sign, proof, token

   Synonyms: signum, index

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	indicium	indicia
Genitive	indiciī indicī1	indiciōrum
Dative	indiciō	indiciīs
Accusative	indicium	indicia
Ablative	indiciō	indiciīs
Vocative	indicium	indicia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Related terms

• index
• indicābilis
• indicātiō
• indicātīvus
• indicātor
• indicātūra
• indicīna
• indicō
• indiculum

Descendants

• Old French: enge
  • French: enge
  • Norman: enge
• → Catalan: indici
• → German: Indiz
• → Italian: indizio
  • → Neapolitan: 'nnìzio
• → Portuguese: indício
• → Romanian: indiciu
• → Spanish: indicio
• → Swedish: indicium

See also

• doctrīna f
• nūntius m
• scientia f

References

• “indicium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “indicium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• indicium in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• indicium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • this shows, proves..: documento, indicio est (without demonstr. pron. but cui rei documento, indicio est)
    

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin indicium.

Noun

indicium n

1. (law) item of circumstantial evidence
   • 2023 November 29, David Rydell, Carl Enderstein, “Fem unga döms för inblandning i mordet i Hjälstaviken – SVT sänder live [Five young individuals are sentenced for involvement in the murder in Hjälstaviken – SVT broadcasts live.]”, in SVT Nyheter:

     Det finns inte någon direkt bevisning i form av erkännanden eller vittnen till själva mordet, men däremot ett stort antal indicier som med varierande styrka talar för samtliga tilltalades skuld, säger Lars Holmgård, ordförande i målet i ett pressmeddelande.

     There is no direct evidence in the form of confessions or witnesses to the actual murder, but instead a large number of indications varying in strength that speak to the guilt of all the accused, says Lars Holmgård, the chairman in the case, in a press release.

Declension

Declension of indicium
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	indicium	indiciet	indicier	indicierna
Genitive	indiciums	indiciets	indiciers	indiciernas

References

• indicium in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• indicium in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• indicium in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)