descriptor

[ dih-skrip-ter ]

/ dɪˈskrɪp tər /

a significant word or phrase used to categorize or describe text or other material, especially when indexing or in an information retrieval system.

Computers. a data item that stores the attributes of some other datum: a task descriptor.

Origin of descriptor

1930–35, for an earlier sense; describe + -tor, with vowel change and devoicing by analogy with similar L derivatives