descriptor

American  

[dih-skrip-ter] / dɪˈskrɪp tər /

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.

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Etymology

Origin of descriptor

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

Example Sentences

The descriptor works for the artist’s latest album, “After Hours,” a collection of originals and standards that sees the 62-year-old Marx channel his inner, swinging Frank Sinatra.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2026

The book is not unnecessarily maudlin but rather sharply present, which is also simply an accurate descriptor for much of Smith’s life and work.

From Salon • Nov. 11, 2025

“Incredibly fast,” boasts the descriptor for this month’s Big Cottonwood in Salt Lake City.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 17, 2025

It can be hard to find an appropriate descriptor for Cantrell.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2025

Later, octave came to mean a choice of twelve notes, not eight, and we got saddled with the wrong descriptor for ever, but I’ll explain that development when it arrives.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall