finger

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See also: Finger

English[edit]

A human hand, showing its four fingers and thumb.
An X-ray of human fingers.
Fish fingers.

Etymology[edit]

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 *pénkʷrós, *penkʷ-ros (“fifth”), from *pénkʷe (“five”)

Compare West Frisian finger, Low German/German Finger, Dutch vinger, Danish finger; also Old Irish cóicer (“set of five people”), Old Armenian հինգեր-որդ (hinger-ord, “fifth”)). More at five.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

finger (plural fingers)

  1. (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 837728611, 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.
  2. (zoology) Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals, particularly:
    1. The lower, smaller segment of an arthropod claw.
    2. One of the supporting structures of wings in birds, bats, etc. evolved from earlier toes or fingers.
    3. One of the slender bony structures before the pectoral fins of gurnards and sea robins (Triglidae).
  3. Something similar in shape to the human finger, particularly:
    • 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion, p. 250:
      ...spires whose ‘silent finger points to Heaven’...
    1. (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?
    2. (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, p. 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.
    3. (UK regional, botany, usually in the plural, obsolete) Synonym of foxglove (D. purpurea).
  4. Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body, particularly:
    a finger of land; a finger of smoke
    1. (botany) Various protruding plant structures, as a banana from its hand.
    2. (anatomy, obsolete) A lobe of the liver.
    3. (historical) The teeth parallel to the blade of a scythe, fitted to a wooden frame called a crade.
    4. The projections of a reaper or mower which similarly separate the stalks for cutting.
    5. (nautical) Clipping of finger pier: a shorter, narrower pier projecting from a larger dock.
    6. (aviation) Synonym of jet bridge: the narrow elevated walkway connecting a plane to an airport.
    7. (computing theory) A leaf in a finger tree data structure.
  5. 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.
    1. (obsolete) Synonym of hand, the part of a clock pointing to the hour, minute, or second.
    2. (US, obsolete slang) A policeman or prison guard.
    3. (US, rare slang) An informer to the police, (especially) one who identifies a criminal during a lineup.
    4. (US, rare slang) A criminal who scouts for prospective victims and targets or who performs reconnaissance before a crime.
    5. (figuratively) That which points; an indicator, as of guilt, blame, or suspicion.
      The finger of suspicion pointed clearly at the hotel manager.
  6. (units of measure) Various units of measure based or notionally based on the adult human finger, particularly
    1. (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).
    2. (historical) A unit of length notionally based on the length of an adult human's middle finger, standardized as 4½ inches (11.43 cm).
    3. (historical) Synonym of digit: 1⁄12 the observed diameter of the sun or moon, (especially) with regard to eclipses.
    4. (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.
  7. (fashion) A part of a glove intended to cover a finger.
  8. (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
  9. (informal, rare) Someone skilled in the use of their fingers, (especially) a pickpocket.
  10. (UK slang) A person.
  11. (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.
  12. (radio) Any of the individual receivers used in a rake receiver to decode signal components.
  13. (vulgar) The act of fingering, inserting a finger into someone's vagina or rectum for sexual pleasure.

Synonyms[edit]

Hyponyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • Sranan Tongo: finga

Translations[edit]

See finger/translations § Noun.

Verb[edit]

finger (third-person singular simple present fingers, present participle fingering, simple past and past participle fingered)

  1. (transitive) To identify or point out. Also put the finger on. To report to or identify for the authorities, rat on, rat out, squeal on, tattle on, turn in.
    • 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.
  2. (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.
  3. (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.
  4. (transitive, music) To use specified finger positions in producing notes on a musical instrument.
  5. (transitive, music) To provide instructions in written music as to which fingers are to be used to produce particular notes or passages.
  6. (transitive, computing) To query (a user's status) using the Finger protocol.
    • 1996, "Yves Bellefeuille", List of useful freeware, comp.archives.msdos.d, Usenet:
      PGP mail welcome (finger me for my key).
  7. (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,
  8. (transitive, obsolete) To execute, as any delicate work.

Synonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • "finger, n., in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Anagrams[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz, from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /fenɡər/, [ˈfeŋˀɐ]

Noun[edit]

finger c (singular definite fingeren, plural indefinite fingre)

  1. finger
Inflection[edit]
Declension of finger
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative finger fingeren fingre fingrene
genitive fingers fingerens fingres fingrenes
Further reading[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

See fingere (“to simulate”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /fenɡɡeːr/, [ˈfeŋɡ̊eːˀɐ̯], [ˈfeŋɡ̊eɐ̯ˀ]

Verb[edit]

finger or fingér

  1. imperative of fingere

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

finger

  1. Alternative form of fynger

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz, from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷrós.

Noun[edit]

finger m (definite singular fingeren, indefinite plural fingre or fingrer, definite plural fingrene)

  1. (anatomy) a finger

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz, from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷrós.

Noun[edit]

finger m (definite singular fingeren, indefinite plural fingrar, definite plural fingrane)

  1. (anatomy) a finger

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

Old English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-West Germanic *fingr. Compare Old Frisian finger, Old Saxon fingar, Old High German fingar, Old Norse fingr, Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍂𐍃 (figgrs).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈfin.ɡer/, [ˈfiŋ.ɡer]

Noun[edit]

finger m

  1. 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.

Declension[edit]

Declension of finger (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative finger fingras
accusative finger fingras
genitive fingres fingra
dative fingre fingrum

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

Old Frisian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-West Germanic *fingr

Noun[edit]

finger m

  1. finger

Inflection[edit]

Declension of finger (masculine a-stem)
case singular plural
nominative finger fingerar, fingera
accusative finger fingerar, fingera
genitive fingeres fingera
dative fingere fingerum, fingerem

Descendants[edit]

Old Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

finger m

  1. finger

Declension[edit]

Declension of finger (consonant stem)
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)

Declension of finger (a-stem)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative finger fingrit finger fingrin
accusative finger fingrit finger fingrin
dative fingri, -e fingrinu, -eno fingrum, -om fingrumin, -omen
genitive fingers fingersins fingra fingranna

Descendants[edit]

Serbo-Croatian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from English finger.

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA(key): /fiŋɡer/

  • Hyphenation: fin‧ger

Noun[edit]

finger m (Cyrillic spelling фингер)

  1. (aviation, travel) jet bridge

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from English finger.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈfinɡeɾ/, [ˈfĩŋ.ɡeɾ]
  • Hyphenation: fin‧ger

Noun[edit]

finger m (plural fingeres)

  1. (food) finger
  2. (aviation, travel) jet bridge

Usage notes[edit]

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 reading[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv

Etymology[edit]

From Old Swedish finger, from Old Norse fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz, from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷrós.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

finger n or c

  1. (anatomy) a finger (the body part)

Declension[edit]

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

Usage notes[edit]

The neuter declension is much more common than the common declension.

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

West Frisian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Frisian finger, from Proto-West Germanic *fingr.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

finger c (plural fingers, diminutive fingerke)

  1. finger

Further reading[edit]

  • “finger”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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