Indenters

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tool or instrument designed to create indentations in surfaces or materials for purposes such as marking or shaping
2. a device used in printing to space text or paragraphs away from the margins
3. an item employed in formatting documents to establish a visual hierarchy on a page

Etymology: The word is a plain agent noun: the verb "indent" with the suffix "-er" attached, so it names the thing that does the indenting. The verb "indent" is the older and more interesting part of the story. It came into English from Old French "endenter," meaning to notch or jag an edge, from "dent," a tooth, so an indentation was originally a toothlike notch cut into a surface. The suffix has its own long journey. The "-er" ending traces back through Middle English and Old English "-ere," which was used to form names of people and tools from verbs and nouns, and it ultimately descends from the Latin "-arius," an ending meaning one who is concerned with or who works at something. English treated "-er" as a productive ending, so "indenter" could be formed directly from the verb whenever a tool or person for making such marks was needed.