keyword

or key word

[ kee-wurd ]

noun

1. a word that serves as a key, as to the meaning of another word, a sentence, passage, or the like.
2. a word used to encipher or decipher a cryptogram, as a pattern for a transposition procedure or the basis for a complex substitution.
3. Also called catchword. Library Science. a significant or memorable word or term in the title, abstract, or text of a document or other item being indexed, used as the index entry.
4. Digital Technology. a word used to classify or organize digital content, or to facilitate an online search for information:

   Search the database for the keyword “Ireland.”

keyword

/ ˈkiːˌwɜːd /

noun

1. a word used as a key to a code
2. any significant word or phrase, esp a word used to describe the contents of a document

Word History and Origins

Origin of keyword¹

First recorded in 1855–60; key ¹ + word

Example Sentences

In April 2019, a community hashtag for the popular gay keyword “les” disappeared from Weibo, an X-like microblogging platform.

From Los Angeles Times

A keyword in the above sentence is “woman.”

From Salon

In October, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld the search of Google users’ keyword history, an approach that critics have called a digital dragnet that threatens to undermine people’s privacy and their constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

From Seattle Times

Web of Science data show publications mentioning MTurk as a keyword went from 34 in 2010 to a peak of 989 in 2021.

From Science Magazine

While DoorDash has implemented safety measures before, including an “emergency button” for drivers in 2022 and an earlier version of this harassment detection technology, this new feature, SafeChat+, is more adept at detecting the nuance of messages rather than simply relying on keyword detection.

From Salon