keyword: Meaning and Definition of

key•word

Pronunciation: (kē'wûrd"), [key]
  1. a word that serves as a key, as to the meaning of another word, a sentence, passage, or the like: Search the database for the keyword “Ireland.”
  2. a word used to encipher or decipher a cryptogram, as a pattern for a transposition procedure or the basis for a complex substitution.
  3. Also calleda significant or memorable word or term in the title, abstract, or text of an item being indexed, used as the index entry.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.