pollex

English

Etymology

Latin pollex

Noun

pollex (plural pollices)

1. The thumb; the first, or preaxial, digit of the forelimb, corresponding to the hallux in the hind limb. In birds, the pollex is the joint which bears the alula or bastard wing.
   • 1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita:

     We came to know the curious roadside species, Hitchhiking Man, Homo pollex of science, with all its many sub-species and forms.

Derived terms

• pollical

See also

• hallux

References

• pollex in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

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Latin

Etymology

Perhaps cognate with Proto-Slavic *palьcь, but contaminated with Latin polleō (hence pollex not *pōlex).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpol.leks/, [ˈpɔl.lɛks]

Noun

pollex m (genitive pollicis); third declension

1. thumb
2. great toe
3. a unit of distance, equivalent to approximately 24.6 mm; one uncia (see also: Ancient Roman units of measurement)
4. seal (insignia)

Inflection

Third declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pollex	pollicēs
Genitive	pollicis	pollicum
Dative	pollicī	pollicibus
Accusative	pollicem	pollicēs
Ablative	pollice	pollicibus
Vocative	pollex	pollicēs

Derived terms

• pollicāris

Descendants

• Catalan: polze
• English: pollical
• French: pouce, poucier
• Italian: pollice
• Occitan: poce

• Portuguese: pólex, pólice
• Romansh: polesch, polisch, polsch
• Sicilian: puseri
• Sardinian: pódhiche
• Spanish: pólice

References

• pollex in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pollex in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pollex in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• pollex in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray