Indented

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. A formatted space at the start of a line that indicates a new paragraph or division in text structure
2. A typographical feature that visually distinguishes the beginning of new sections in written work
3. A blank area placed at the beginning of a text line to signal a shift or new paragraph

Etymology: Indented is simply the past participle and adjective of "indent", so its story is really the story of the verb. "Indent" comes from Middle English "indenten", formed from the prefix "in-" and the Latin-derived "dent", a notch or tooth-mark, and the sense of a notch cut into an edge is still visible when a paragraph or margin is set inward. The verb's oldest senses were concrete: to make toothlike notches in an edge, and to cut a document in two along a zigzag line so that each party kept a matching half. The "-ed" ending is the ordinary past-tense and participle marker inherited from Old English, where it was "-ed" as well, descended from an older Germanic suffix. Adding it to "indent" produces a form that describes something already shaped by the action, such as an indented coastline or an indented line of text.

Synonyms: notched, serrated, scalloped, incised, jagged

Antonyms: smooth, flat, even, continuous, unbroken