indent

/ˈɪndɛnt/

indent means A cut or notch in the margin of anything, or a recess like a notch.

indent is pronounced /ˈɪndɛnt/.

Etymology

Partly from Middle English indenten (“to dent in”), equivalent to in- + dent (see dent); partly from Middle English indenten, endenten, from Old French endenter (“to cut notches into”), from en- (“in-, en-”) + dent (“tooth”), from Latin dēns.

noun

A cut or notch in the margin of anything, or a recess like a notch.
A stamp; an impression.
A certificate, or intended certificate, issued by the government of the United States at the close of the Revolution, for the principal or interest of the public debt.
A requisition or order for supplies, sent to the commissariat of an army.

verb

To notch; to jag; to cut into points like a row of teethe.g.“to indent the edge of paper”
To be cut, notched, or dented.
To dent; to stamp or to press in; to impresse.g.“indent a smooth surface with a hammer”
To cut the two halves of a document in duplicate, using a jagged or wavy line so that each party could demonstrate that their copy was part of the original whole.
To enter into a binding agreement by means of such documents; to formally commit (to doing something); to contract.e.g.“The Polanders indented with Henry, Duke of Anjou, their new-chosen king, to bring with him an hundred families of artificers into Poland.” — , New York, 2001, p.91
To engage (someone), originally by means of indented contracts.e.g.“to indent a young man to a shoemaker; to indent a servant”
To begin (a line or lines) at a greater or lesser distance from the margin. See indentation, and indention. Normal indent pushes in a line or paragraph. "Hanging indent" pulls the line out into the margin.e.g.“to indent the first line of a paragraph one em”
To crook or turn; to wind in and out; to zigzag.e.g.“Seeing Orlando, it vnlink'd it selfe, And with indented glides, did slip away” — c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, publ
To make an order upon; to draw upon, as for military stores.e.g.“What is the rule observed in India in indenting upon England for military stores ?” — 1832 May 23, John Byng examining Jasper Nicolls in the House of Commons

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).