to index
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to place on the index
To put a medium such as a book, film, or computer game on an official list (the index), which restricts its sale and distribution, especially to young people.
Der Film wurde wegen seiner Gewaltdarstellungen für Jugendliche indiziert.
The film was placed on the index for young people because of its depictions of violence.
All meanings of 'indizieren' (to index) are connected to the noun 'der Index' (the index), which means 'directory' or 'list'. So indizieren always means putting something into some kind of directory or pointing to something.
Die Bibliothekare indizieren alle neuen Bücher, damit man sie im Katalog findet.
The librarians index all new books so that they can be found in the catalog.
You can recognize the meaning from the context: In connection with media (film, game), it is about the protection of minors. In medicine (treatment, operation), it means 'to be indicated'. In IT (website, data), it is about creating search indexes.
Dieses Computerspiel wurde indiziert und darf nicht an Kinder verkauft werden.
This computer game was placed on the index and may not be sold to children.
In this meaning, the verb is usually used with media content. Typical objects are 'ein Buch' (a book), 'ein Film' (a film), 'ein Lied' (a song), or 'ein Computerspiel' (a computer game).
Die Behörde hat das Album wegen der Texte indiziert.
The authority placed the album on the index because of the lyrics.
In medical terminology, 'indizieren' (to indicate) is very often used in the passive. The phrase 'etwas ist indiziert' (something is indicated) means that a particular medical measure is advisable or necessary.
Bei diesem Krankheitsbild ist eine Physiotherapie dringend indiziert.
With this clinical picture, physiotherapy is urgently indicated.
This meaning is typical of the fields of computer science and library science. Common objects are 'Webseiten' (web pages), 'Dokumente' (documents), 'Daten' (data), or 'Inhalte' (content).
Google muss ständig das gesamte Internet neu indizieren.
Google constantly has to re-index the entire internet.
to recommend
'empfehlen' and 'indizieren' can both express that something is considered suitable or sensible. But the difference is important: 'empfehlen' is used in everyday language when someone gives advice or thinks something is good. 'indizieren' is a technical term, especially in medicine. There it means that a treatment is indicated or necessary for medical reasons. The words can be confused because both point in the direction of 'this is what should be done'. In normal conversation, you almost always say 'empfehlen'. 'indizieren' only fits in specialist medical contexts.
Nach der Untersuchung ist eine Operation medizinisch indiziert.
After the examination, an operation is medically indicated.
Der Lehrer empfiehlt, dass wir jeden Tag zehn neue Wörter wiederholen.
The teacher recommends that we review ten new words every day.