diff --git a/dmenu.1 b/dmenu.1
index 9eab758..8365e8b 100644
--- a/dmenu.1
+++ b/dmenu.1
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 dmenu \- dynamic menu
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B dmenu
-.RB [ \-bfiv ]
+.RB [ \-bfivn ]
 .RB [ \-l
 .IR lines ]
 .RB [ \-m
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ X until stdin reaches end\-of\-file.
 .B \-i
 dmenu matches menu items case insensitively.
 .TP
+.B \-n
+output the element's position in the list instead of his name.
+.TP
 .BI \-l " lines"
 dmenu lists items vertically, with the given number of lines.
 .TP
diff --git a/dmenu.c b/dmenu.c
index d605ab4..b9e82de 100644
--- a/dmenu.c
+++ b/dmenu.c
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ static struct item *items = NULL;
 static struct item *matches, *matchend;
 static struct item *prev, *curr, *next, *sel;
 static int mon = -1, screen;
+static int numeric_output;
 
 static Atom clip, utf8;
 static Display *dpy;
@@ -57,6 +58,16 @@ static Clr *scheme[SchemeLast];
 static int (*fstrncmp)(const char *, const char *, size_t) = strncmp;
 static char *(*fstrstr)(const char *, const char *) = strstr;
 
+
+static unsigned
+itemindex(struct item *it)
+{
+	unsigned i = 0;
+	for(; (it = it->left) != NULL; i++);
+	return i;
+}
+
+
 static void
 appenditem(struct item *item, struct item **list, struct item **last)
 {
@@ -424,7 +435,10 @@ keypress(XKeyEvent *ev)
 		break;
 	case XK_Return:
 	case XK_KP_Enter:
-		puts((sel && !(ev->state & ShiftMask)) ? sel->text : text);
+		if ((sel && !(ev->state & ShiftMask)))
+			if(numeric_output) printf("%u\n", itemindex(sel));
+			else puts(sel->text);
+		else puts(text);
 		if (!(ev->state & ControlMask)) {
 			cleanup();
 			exit(0);
@@ -636,7 +650,7 @@ setup(void)
 static void
 usage(void)
 {
-	fputs("usage: dmenu [-bfiv] [-l lines] [-p prompt] [-fn font] [-m monitor]\n"
+	fputs("usage: dmenu [-bfivn] [-l lines] [-p prompt] [-fn font] [-m monitor]\n"
 	      "             [-nb color] [-nf color] [-sb color] [-sf color] [-w windowid]\n", stderr);
 	exit(1);
 }
@@ -659,7 +673,10 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-i")) { /* case-insensitive item matching */
 			fstrncmp = strncasecmp;
 			fstrstr = cistrstr;
-		} else if (i + 1 == argc)
+		} else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-n")) /* output the element's position in
+			the list instead of his name */
+			numeric_output = 1;
+		else if (i + 1 == argc)
 			usage();
 		/* these options take one argument */
 		else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-l"))   /* number of lines in vertical list */