thumbnail

Wikipedia

English

Etymology

thumb + nail. The phrase thumbnail sketch was first attested 1852. Verb sense attested 1930s.

Noun

thumbnail (plural thumbnails)

1. The fingernail on the thumb.
2. A rough sketch (e.g., the size of one's thumbnail).
3. (chiefly computing) A small picture, used as a compact representation of a larger image.

See also

• (3): icon, thumbshot

Translations

fingernail on the thumb

Czech: nehet na palci m. Danish: tommelfingernegl (da) c. Dutch: duimnagel m. Finnish: peukalonkynsi French: l'ongle (fr) m. du pouce (fr) m. German: Daumennagel (de) m.

Macedonian: палчен нокт (mk) (pálčen nokt) m. Polish: paznokieć m. kciuka m. Portuguese: unha do polegar (pt) f. Swedish: tumnagel (sv) m. Vietnamese: móng ngón tay cái Volapük: dömanuel (vo)

rough sketch

Czech: náhled m. Danish: skitse (da) c.

Finnish: raakaluonnos French: croquis (fr) m.

small picture

Chinese: Mandarin: 缩略图 (zh) Czech: náhled m. Danish: frimærke (da) n. Finnish: esikatselukuva, pieni näytekuva, peukalonkynsikuva French: aperçu (fr) m., vignette (fr) f., miniature (fr) German: Vorschaubild (de) n., Miniaturbild (de) n. Indonesian: gambar kecil/gambar mini (id)

Italian: anteprima (it) f. Norwegian: miniatyrbilde (no) Norwegian Nynorsk: miniatyrbilete (nn) Polish: ikona (pl) f. Portuguese: miniatura (pt) f. Spanish: miniatura (es) f. (source: Microsoft Glossaries) Vietnamese: hình nhỏ

Verb

thumbnail (third-person singular simple present thumbnails, present participle thumbnailing, simple past and past participle thumbnailed)

1. (transitive) To describe concisely.

External links

• Maven's Word of the Day, December 11, 1997
• “thumb” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001