Indicative means showing or pointing to something. Indicative of a problem, indicative prices, an indicative vote.
It takes of and it hedges: indicative of means suggesting rather than proving, which is why it fills reports. An indicative price or figure is a rough one not binding on anybody. In Parliament, indicative votes test opinion without deciding. In grammar, the indicative is the ordinary mood for stating facts, against the subjunctive and imperative.
1adjectiveindicativeShowing or pointing to something.
“His silence was indicative of how upset he really was.”
2adjectivegrammaticalOf the grammatical mood for stating facts.
“In "she walks to work", the verb is in the indicative mood.”
indicative is a quality of pointing.
Latin indicativus comes from indicare, to point out — in plus dicare, to proclaim. Indicate, dictate and index come from the same pointing.
Proto-Indo-European
*deyḱ-
LL.
indicativus
Middle French
indicatif
English, today
indicative
From Middle French indicatif, from LL. indicativus. by surface analysis, indicate + -ive.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA