pollex

English

Etymology

Borrowed from 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/, [ˈpɔl̠.l̠ɛks̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) 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)

Declension

Third-declension noun.

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: pollex, pollical
• French: pouce, poucier
  • → Sicilian: puseri
• Italian: pollice
• Occitan: poce

• → Portuguese: pólex, pólice
• → Romanian: police
• Romansch: polesch, polisch, polsch
• 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