descriptor

[ dih-skrip-ter ]

noun

1. a significant word or phrase used to categorize or describe text or other material, especially when indexing or in an information retrieval system.
2. Computers. a data item that stores the attributes of some other datum:

   a task descriptor.

Word History and Origins

Origin of descriptor¹

First recorded in 1930–35, for an earlier sense; describe + -tor, with vowel change and devoicing by analogy with similar Latin derivatives

Example Sentences

Actor Rashida Jones, the daughter of composer Quincy Jones, commemorated her late father on Thursday with a bounty of descriptors, calling him a giant, icon, culture shifter and genius.

From Los Angeles Times

Not because those words aren’t fitting descriptors for Ani, but because she’s far more complex than a couple of attributes you can pull from the etymology section of a mommy blog.

From Salon

It is no accident that the term ethnic cleansing has endured as a descriptor of those atrocities.

From Salon

It’s a descriptor for “an inscrutable face that reveals no hint of a person’s thoughts or feelings.”

From Los Angeles Times

Don't take that the wrong way; these descriptors apply to some of my favorite stories.

From Salon