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The rank and suit repeated small in two corners, so a fanned hand can be read.
Also known as: Corner markings on cards, Small letters and numbers on a card
The single most consequential design change in the history of playing cards, and the least noticed. Indices in diagonally opposite corners let a hand be fanned in one hand instead of spread in two.
The rank and suit printed small in two diagonally opposite corners of a card, so that the card can be identified while overlapped by others.
Introduced in the second half of the nineteenth century and adopted almost universally within a generation, because it changes how a hand is held: a fanned hand needs only one hand and shows less to the table.
from the 1860s
Placed in diagonally opposite corners rather than all four so that the card is legible fanned in either hand. Four-corner indices exist and are a specialist variant, not the standard.
A small numeral or letter with a smaller suit mark directly beneath it, printed in the top-left and bottom-right corners of a card.