thumbnail

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθʌmneɪl/

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.

Usage notes

• (computing): Unlike an icon, which is generally a representative symbol, a thumbnail is a smaller identical copy of the original larger image.

Descendants

• Japanese: サムネイル (samuneiru)
• Portuguese: thumbnail

Translations

fingernail on the thumb

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: nehet na palci m
• Danish: tommelfingernegl c
• Dutch: duimnagel m
• Finnish: peukalonkynsi
• French: ongle du pouce m
• German: Daumennagel (de) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: ionga ordóige f
• Macedonian: палчен нокт m (palčen nokt)
• Polish: paznokieć kciuka m
• Portuguese: unha do polegar f
• Russian: но́готь большо́го па́льца m (nógotʹ bolʹšóvo pálʹca)
• Swedish: tumnagel (sv) m
• Vietnamese: móng ngón tay cái
• Volapük: dömanuel

rough sketch

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Danish: skitse c
• Estonian: visand
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: raakaluonnos
• French: croquis (fr) m
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: набро́сок (ru) m (nabrósok), эски́з (ru) m (eskíz)

small picture

• Belarusian: мініяцю́ра f (minijacjúra), карці́нка f (karcínka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 縮略圖／缩略图 (zh) (suōlüètú), 缩略图 (zh) (suōlüètú)

• Czech: miniatura m, náhled m
• Danish: frimærke (da) n, miniaturebillede n
• Erzya: пелькенже (peľkenže)
• Estonian: pisipilt
• Finnish: esikatselukuva
• French: aperçu (fr) m, vignette (fr) f, miniature (fr) f
• German: Vorschaubild (de) n, Miniaturbild n
• Hungarian: indexkép, nézőkép, miniatűr (hu), miniatűrkép, bélyegkép
• Indonesian: miniatur (id), gambar kecil, gambar mini, keluku (rare)
• Italian: anteprima (it) f, miniatura (it) f
• Japanese: サムネイル (samuneiru)
• Korean: 섬네일 (seomneil)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: sīktēls, miniatūra
• Norwegian: miniatyrbilde
• Norwegian Nynorsk: miniatyrbilete
• Polish: miniatura (pl) f
• Portuguese: miniatura (pt) f, thumbnail (pt) m
• Romanian: miniatură (ro) f
• Russian: миниатю́ра (ru) f (miniatjúra), карти́нка (ru) f (kartínka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: minijatúra (sh) m

  Roman: минијату́ра m

• Slovak: miniatúra m, náhľad m
• Spanish: miniatura (es) f
• Tagalog: panhinlalaki
• Thai: ภาพขนาดย่อ, รูปขนาดย่อ
• Ukrainian: мініатю́ра f (miniatjúra), карти́нка f (kartýnka)
• Vietnamese: hình nhỏ

See also

• (3): icon, thumbshot

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To describe concisely.

Translations

describe concisely

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: kuvata lyhyesti
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: pormenorizar (es)

Further reading

• Maven's Word of the Day, December 11, 1997
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “thumb”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

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Portuguese

Etymology

From English thumbnail.

Noun

thumbnail m (plural s)

1. (computing) thumbnail (a miniature preview of a larger image)

Synonyms

• miniatura