Subscript

(1) In programming, a symbol or number used to identify an element in an array. Usually, the subscript is placed in brackets following the array name. For example, AR[5] identifies element number 5 in an array called AR.

If the array is multidimensional, you must specify a subscript for each dimension. For example, MD[5][3][9] identifies an element in a three-dimensional array called MD.

Different programming languages have different rules for specifying subscripts. For example, the BASIC language uses parentheses in place of brackets.

(2) In word processing, a character that appears slightly below the line, as in this example: H20. A superscript is a character that appears slightly above the line.