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In economics, an indicator of a general movement in wages and prices over a specified period.

For example, in the USA, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) records changes in the cost of living, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicates the general movement of the New York Stock Exchange.

index

In mathematics, another term for exponent, the number that indicates the power to which a term should be raised.

index

In statistics, a numerical scale used to summarize a number of changes and by means of which different levels of data can be compared. For example, the cost of living index number compares the cost of a number of present-day ordinary expenses with the same expenses in previous years.