finger
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
PIE word |
---|
*pénkʷe |
From Middle English fynger, finger, from Old English finger (“finger”), from Proto-West Germanic *fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz (“finger”), from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós, from *pénkʷe (“five”).
Compare West Frisian finger, Low German/German Finger, Dutch vinger, Danish finger; also Old Armenian հինգեր-որդ (hinger-ord, “fifth”)). More at five.
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfɪŋɡə/
- (General American) enPR: fĭngʹ-gər, IPA(key): /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/
Audio (GA) (file) - (Scotland) IPA(key): /ˈfɪŋəɹ/
- Rhymes: -ɪŋɡə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: fin‧ger
NounEdit
finger (plural fingers)
- (anatomy) A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb.
- Humans have two hands and ten fingers. Each hand has one thumb and four fingers.
- 1750, W[illiam] Ellis, The Country Housewife's Family Companion […] , London: James Hodges; B. Collins, →OCLC, page 157:
- [M]aking a Cut here big enough to put her Finger in, which ſhe thruſts under the Guts, and with it rakes or tears out the Stone that lies neareſt to it.
- 1916, The Finger Talk of Chicago's Wheat-Pit, Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 89, p. 81:
- Each finger extended represents one-eighth of a cent. Thus when all four fingers and the thumb are extended, all being spread out from one another, it means five-eighths.
- 2014 March 29, “Don’t cramp my style”, in The Economist, volume 410, number 8880:
- In 1993 [Victor Candia] noticed that the fingers of his left hand were starting to curl up as he played [on his guitar]. It felt to him as if a magnet in his palm were preventing him from opening them. A week later, he could not play at all.
- (zoology) Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals, particularly:
- 1915, Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson, The How and Why Library, Life, Section VIII,
- The starfish eats with five fingers.
- 1915, Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson, The How and Why Library, Life, Section VIII,
- Something similar in shape to the human finger, particularly:
- 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion, page 250:
- ...spires whose ‘silent finger points to Heaven’...
- (cooking) Finger-shaped pieces of food.
- chocolate fingers; fish fingers; cheese fingers
- 2014, Laurie David, The Family Cooks:
- By now, we hope you have said “no” to processed nuggets and fingers. Instead, how about taking some real chicken, tossing it with real eggs, a little tangy mustard, and a crunchy quinoa coating?
- (chemistry) A tube extending from a sealed system, or sometimes into one in the case of a cold finger.
- 1996, Susan Trumbore, Mass Spectrometry of Soils, page 318:
- An oven is placed over the finger with Co catalyst (oven temperature will depend on whether a quartz or Pyrex finger is used, see Ref. 24), and a cold finger (usually a copper rod immersed in dry ice–isopropanol slurry) is placed on the other tube.
- (UK regional, botany, usually in the plural, obsolete) Synonym of foxglove (D. purpurea).
- Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body, particularly:
- a finger of land; a finger of smoke
- (botany) Various protruding plant structures, as a banana from its hand.
- (anatomy, obsolete) A lobe of the liver.
- (historical) The teeth parallel to the blade of a scythe, fitted to a wooden frame called a crade.
- The projections of a reaper or mower which similarly separate the stalks for cutting.
- (nautical) Clipping of finger pier: a shorter, narrower pier projecting from a larger dock.
- (aviation) Synonym of jet bridge: the narrow elevated walkway connecting a plane to an airport.
- (computing theory) A leaf in a finger tree data structure.
- Something similar in function or agency to the human finger, (usually) with regard to touching, grasping, or pointing.
- 1611, Bible (KJV), Exodus 8:19:
- The Magicians said vnto Pharaoh; This is the finger of God.
- (obsolete) Synonym of hand, the part of a clock pointing to the hour, minute, or second.
- (US, obsolete slang) A policeman or prison guard.
- (US, rare slang) An informer to the police, (especially) one who identifies a criminal during a lineup.
- (US, rare slang) A criminal who scouts for prospective victims and targets or who performs reconnaissance before a crime.
- (figurative) That which points; an indicator, as of guilt, blame, or suspicion.
- The finger of suspicion pointed clearly at the hotel manager.
- 1611, Bible (KJV), Exodus 8:19:
- (units of measure) Various units of measure based or notionally based on the adult human finger, particularly
- (historical) Synonym of digit: former units of measure notionally based on its width but variously standardized, (especially) the English digit of 1⁄16 foot (about 1.9 cm).
- 1648, John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick
- a piece of steel three fingers thick
- 1648, John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick
- (historical) A unit of length notionally based on the length of an adult human's middle finger, standardized as 4½ inches (11.43 cm).
- (historical) Synonym of digit: 1⁄12 the observed diameter of the sun or moon, (especially) with regard to eclipses.
- (originally US) An informal measure of alcohol based on its height in a given glass compared to the width of the pourer's fingers while holding it.
- Gimme three fingers of bourbon.
- (historical) Synonym of digit: former units of measure notionally based on its width but variously standardized, (especially) the English digit of 1⁄16 foot (about 1.9 cm).
- (fashion) A part of a glove intended to cover a finger.
- (informal, obsolete) Skill in the use of the fingers, as in playing upon a musical instrument.
- 1786, Thomas Busby, Musical Dictionary:
- A performer capable of doing justice to rapid or expressive passages, is said to have a good finger
- (informal, rare) Someone skilled in the use of their fingers, (especially) a pickpocket.
- (UK slang) A person.
- (especially in the phrase 'give someone the finger') An obscene or insulting gesture made by raising one's middle finger towards someone with the palm of one's hand facing inwards.
- (radio) Any of the individual receivers used in a rake receiver to decode signal components.
- (vulgar) The act of fingering, inserting a finger into someone's vagina or rectum for sexual pleasure.
SynonymsEdit
- (anatomy): See Thesaurus:finger
- (zoology): toe (when on four legs); claw, talon (usually sharp)
- (finger-shaped objects): tendril (in plants)
- (airport walkway): See jet bridge
- (finger width): See digit
- (slang for police informer): See Thesaurus:informant
- (skill with the fingers): fingering technique; touch
- (British slang for person): bloke, lad, boy, guv
HyponymsEdit
- (anatomy): index finger, forefinger; middle finger; ring finger; little finger, pinkie; thumb, hallux
Derived termsEdit
- all fingers and thumbs
- arrow-finger
- at one's fingertips
- big finger
- black finger crab
- board finger
- bring up on the finger
- burn one's fingers
- butterfingers
- Chinese finger puzzle
- Chinese finger trap
- click of the fingers
- cross one's fingers
- dead man's fingers
- devil's fingers
- dip one's finger in
- dog's fingers
- ear-finger
- ear finger
- easy as kiss my finger
- fat-finger
- fat finger
- fickle finger of fate
- finger-and-toe
- finger-bang
- finger-bar
- finger-beam
- finger-breadth
- finger-click
- finger-clicking
- finger-cold
- finger-comb
- finger-combed
- finger-director
- finger-dried
- finger-dry
- finger-drying
- finger-fed
- finger-four
- finger-friendly
- finger-fuck
- finger-fumbler
- finger-length
- finger-licking
- finger-lickin' good
- finger-light
- finger-loping
- finger-marked
- finger-paint
- finger-parted
- finger-piece
- finger-pointing
- finger-pop
- finger-popping
- finger-post
- finger-print
- finger-reading
- finger-roll
- finger-shade
- finger-snap
- finger-snapping
- finger-spinner
- finger-talk
- finger-talking
- finger-tapping
- finger-tight
- finger-tray
- finger-wag
- finger-wagging
- finger-waving
- finger ache
- finger alphabet
- finger and thumb
- finger and toe
- finger bang
- fingerbang
- finger bar
- finger berry
- finger biscuit
- fingerboard
- finger bone
- finger bowl
- finger bread
- finger breadth
- fingerbreadth
- finger brush
- finger buffet
- finger bun
- finger cherry
- finger chip
- finger chips
- finger coral
- finger cot
- finger counting
- finger crotch
- finger cymbal
- finger dry
- fingered
- finger exercise
- finger fan
- finger fern
- finger fillip
- finger fish
- finger flower
- finger food
- fingerfuck
- finger fuck
- finger game
- finger glass
- finger grass
- finger grip
- finger guard
- finger gun
- finger heart
- finger hole
- finger impression
- fingering
- finger in the dike
- finger in the dyke
- finger in the pie
- finger joint
- finger lake
- finger language
- finger lime
- fingerling
- finger lith
- finger man
- fingermark
- finger mark
- finger mask
- fingermeal
- finger millet
- finger mirror
- finger muffin
- finger nail
- fingernail
- finger neb
- finger nut
- finger on the pulse
- finger orchis
- finger pad
- fingerpaint
- finger paint
- finger painting
- finger passage
- finger piano
- finger pick
- fingerpicking
- finger pier
- finger pillory
- fingerplate
- finger plum
- fingerpost
- finger post
- finger prayer book
- finger prick
- fingerprint
- finger puff
- finger puppet
- finger purse
- finger ring
- finger roll
- finger root
- finger's-breadth
- fingers and thumbs
- fingers and toes
- finger sandwich
- fingersbreadth
- finger screw
- fingers crossed
- finger shell
- finger shield
- fingersmith
- finger speech
- fingerspell
- fingerspelling
- finger spin
- finger spinner
- finger splint
- finger sponge
- fingerstall
- finger steak
- finger steel
- finger stick
- finger stocks
- fingers were made before forks
- finger talking
- finger tap
- finger tight
- fingertip
- finger to the wind
- finger trouble
- finger watch
- finger wave
- finger weaving
- finger width
- finger work
- finger wrestling
- first finger
- fish finger
- five-finger
- five-finger discount
- five-finger exercise
- five finger
- five finger discount
- five finger exercise
- foam finger
- forefinger
- fourth finger
- fuck-you finger
- fucked by the fickle finger of fate
- fuck finger
- get one's finger out
- get one's fingers burnt
- get one's fingers onto
- give the finger
- give the fingers
- gold-finger
- hang long betwixt one's fingers
- hang long betwixt the fingers
- have a fine finger
- have a finger in
- have a finger in every pie
- have fingers made of lime-twigs
- have green fingers
- have more of in one's finger
- have one's finger on the pulse
- have one's fingers in many pies
- have one's fingers in the till
- have the most fingers
- index finger
- in one's fingers
- itchy trigger finger
- king's finger
- ladies' fingers
- ladyfinger
- lady's finger
- lay a finger on
- leech-finger
- let one's fingers do the walking
- lift a finger
- light-finger
- little finger
- long finger
- look through one's fingers
- lords' and ladies' fingers
- mallet finger
- marriage finger
- medical finger
- medicinal finger
- mercurial finger
- mid-finger
- middle-finger
- middle finger
- move a finger
- nameless finger
- old finger
- one-finger salute
- one finger salute
- one's fingers are all thumbs
- one's fingers itch
- out of one's fingers
- physical finger
- physic finger
- physician finger
- pinkie finger
- pinky finger
- pointer finger
- point the finger at
- pull my finger
- pull one's finger on
- pull one's finger out
- pussy finger
- put a finger to the wind
- put one's finger in a hole
- put one's finger in the dyke
- put one's finger in the fire
- put one's finger on
- put on the long finger
- put the finger on
- putty in someone's fingers
- raise a finger
- raise a finger against
- ring-finger
- ring finger
- Scotch finger
- seal finger
- showing finger
- skirt finger
- slip through one's fingers
- snap of a finger
- snap of the fingers
- snap one's fingers
- split-finger fastball
- split finger
- stick two fingers up
- sticky-finger
- sticky finger
- sticky fingers
- stir a finger
- suck out of one's finger
- the finger
- third finger
- three-finger salute
- trigger finger
- twist around one's little finger
- two-finger salute
- two fingers
- vibration white finger
- wag a finger
- wag one's finger
- wedding finger
- wind around one's little finger
- with a wet finger
- within one's fingers
- with one's finger in one's mouth
- with one's finger up one's ass
- word of finger
- work one's fingers to the bone
- wrap around one's fingers
- wrap around one's little finger
- zinc finger
DescendantsEdit
- Sranan Tongo: finga
TranslationsEdit
VerbEdit
finger (third-person singular simple present fingers, present participle fingering, simple past and past participle fingered)
- (transitive) To identify or point out; to blame for something.
- 2018 January, “Wild Things”, in North and South:
- I'm rose-tinting my teenage years, for sure, but Twenge isn't the only generational-change researcher to finger the ubiquitous smartphone for contributing to higher rates of teen depression and anxiety.
- (transitive) To report to or identify for the authorities; to inform on.
- (transitive) To poke, probe, feel, or fondle with a finger or fingers.
- c. 1589–1593, Shakespeare, William, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Scene 2:
- Let the papers lie; / You would be fingering them to anger me.
- 1898, H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds:
- "They have done a foolish thing," said I, fingering my wineglass.
- 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 121:
- Alladad Khan, left alone, dandled unhandily his child in unfatherly arms. He wanted to finger his moustache, but could not.
- 2009, Win Blevins, Dreams Beneath Your Feet, page 135:
- Feeling tender around the face, she fingered herself gingerly. Yes, it was swollen, very sore around the cheekbones, with dried blood on the outsides of her eye sockets, below her nostrils, and below one ear.
- (transitive) To use the fingers to penetrate and sexually stimulate one's own or another person's vagina or anus; to fingerbang.
- 2007, Madeline Bastinado, A Talent for Surrender, page 201:
- She fingered him, spreading the gel and sliding the tip of her finger inside him.
- 2008, Thomas Wainwright, editor, Erotic Tales, page 56:
- She smiled, a look of amazement on her face, as if thinking that maybe this was the cock that she had been fantasizing about just now, as she fingered herself to a massive, body-engulfing orgasm.
- (transitive, music) To use specified finger positions in producing notes on a musical instrument.
- (transitive, music) To provide instructions in written music as to which fingers are to be used to produce particular notes or passages.
- (transitive, computing) To query (a user's status) using the Finger protocol.
- 1996, Yves Bellefeuille, “List of useful freeware”, in comp.archives.msdos.d (Usenet):
- PGP mail welcome (finger me for my key).
- (obsolete) To steal; to purloin.
- c. 1599–1602, Shakespeare, William, Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2:
- in the dark / Groped I to find out them, had my desire, / Fingered their packet, and in fine withdrew / To mine own room again,
- (transitive, obsolete) To execute, as any delicate work.
SynonymsEdit
- (to identify or point out): inform, grass up, snitch; See also Thesaurus:rat out
- (sexual): fingerbang, fingerfuck
TranslationsEdit
|
|
|
See alsoEdit
- artiodactyl
- dactyl
- dactylography
- dactylology
- fist
- macrodactyly
- perissodactyl
- prestidigitation
- pterodactyl
ReferencesEdit
- "finger, n., in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
AnagramsEdit
DanishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Old Norse fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz, from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
finger c (singular definite fingeren, plural indefinite fingre)
InflectionEdit
Further readingEdit
- finger on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia da
Etymology 2Edit
See fingere (“to simulate”).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
finger or fingér
Middle EnglishEdit
NounEdit
finger
- Alternative form of fynger
Norwegian BokmålEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Norse fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz, from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós.
NounEdit
finger m (definite singular fingeren, indefinite plural fingre or fingrer, definite plural fingrene)
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “finger” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian NynorskEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Norse fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz, from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós.
NounEdit
finger m (definite singular fingeren, indefinite plural fingrar, definite plural fingrane)
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “finger” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-West Germanic *fingr. Compare Old Frisian finger, Old Saxon fingar, Old High German fingar, Old Norse fingr, Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍂𐍃 (figgrs).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
finger m
- finger
- Sēo hand hæfþ fīf fingras: þone þūman, þone sċytefinger, þone middelfinger, þone hringfinger, and þone lȳtlan finger.
- The hand has five fingers: the thumb, the index finger, the middle finger, the ring finger, and the pinky.
DeclensionEdit
Derived termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
Old FrisianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-West Germanic *fingr.
NounEdit
finger m
InflectionEdit
Declension of finger (masculine a-stem) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | finger | fingerar, fingera |
genitive | fingeres | fingera |
dative | fingere | fingerum, fingerem |
accusative | finger | fingerar, fingera |
DescendantsEdit
Old SwedishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Norse fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
finger m
DeclensionEdit
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | finger | fingrin | finger | fingrini(r), -rene(r) |
accusative | finger | fingrin | finger | fingrina, -rena |
dative | fingri, -e | fingrinum, -enom | fingrum, -om | fingrumin, -omen |
genitive | fingers | fingersins | fingra | fingranna |
or (with neuter gender)
DescendantsEdit
- Swedish: finger
Serbo-CroatianEdit
EtymologyEdit
Unadapted borrowing from English finger.
PronunciationEdit
- Hyphenation: fin‧ger
NounEdit
finger m (Cyrillic spelling фингер)
SpanishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Unadapted borrowing from English finger.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
finger m (plural fingeres)
- (food) finger
- (aviation, travel) jet bridge
Usage notesEdit
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Further readingEdit
- “finger”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
SwedishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Swedish finger, from Old Norse fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz, from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
finger n or c
Usage notesEdit
The neuter declension is much more common than the common declension.
DeclensionEdit
Declension of finger | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | finger | fingret | fingrar | fingrarna |
Genitive | fingers | fingrets | fingrars | fingrarnas |
Declension of finger | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | finger | fingern | fingrar | fingrarna |
Genitive | fingers | fingerns | fingrars | fingrarnas |
Derived termsEdit
- fingeravtryck
- fingerblomma
- fingerborg
- fingerbred
- fingerbredd
- fingerböld
- fingerformad
- fingerfärdig
- fingerfärdighet
- fingerfärg
- fingerhål
- fingerkrok
- fingerled
- fingerlik
- fingernagel
- fingerring
- fingerskiva
- fingerspets
- fingersvamp
- fingersättning
- fingertopp
- fingertuta
- fingervante
- fingervarm
- fingervisning
- fingerört
- fingra
- fingrad
- lillfinger
- långfinger
- pekfinger
- ringfinger
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
West FrisianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Frisian finger, from Proto-West Germanic *fingr.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
finger c (plural fingers, diminutive fingerke)
Further readingEdit
- “finger”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011