English

Noun

1. any word used as the key to a code
2. Any word used in a reference work to link to other words or other information,
3. A reserved word used to identify a specific command, function etc.
4. Any word that occurs in a text more often than normal.

Related terms

• sense information science index term
• sense information science descriptor

Translations

A keyword is a word or concept with special significance, in particular any word used as the key to a code or used in a reference work to link to other words or other information.

The term keyword in reference to SEM usually refers to a word or phrase (combination of words, such as 'Chicago Courier Service') used to find relevant and useful web pages.

It may also mean:

• Keyword (computer programming), an identifier in a computer language that indicates a specific command
• Keyword (linguistics), a word that occurs with unexpected frequency in a text,

or a word which occurs in a text more often than we would expect to occur by chance alone

• • Keyword (Internet search), a word or a phrase used to find useful results in internet searches
  • Smart keyword, shortcut for bookmarks in Firefox

In a non-computer sense:

• Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society - a 1976 book discussing English words and their cultural use
• List of Magic: The Gathering keywords