мизинец

From Proto-Slavic *mězinъ (“younger, smaller”) + -ец (-ec), possibly blended with an agent noun of *midzati / *mizgati (“to caress, to smooch”). The unexpected root -и- may be also a result of narrowing of unstressed open vowels, which is regular within Eastern dialects (but not in the West).

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мизи́нец • (mizínec) m (feminine мизи́нка) (dialectal)

1. youngest male child (within a family)

• “мизинец”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2014
• Nayden Gerov (1899) “мизи́нець”, in Рѣчникъ на Блъгарскꙑй язꙑкъ. Съ тлъкувание рѣчи-тꙑ на Блъгарскꙑ и на Русскꙑ. [Dictionary of the Bulgarian language]‎ (in Bulgarian), volume 3, Plovdiv: Дружествена печꙗтница "Съгласие.", page 64
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1986), “мизинец, мизинка”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 3 (крес¹ – мѝнго¹), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 786

Inherited from Old East Slavic мѣзиньць (mězinĭcĭ, “youngest son”), from Proto-Slavic *mězinьcь.

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мизи́нец • (mizínec) m inan (genitive мизи́нца, nominative plural мизи́нцы, genitive plural мизи́нцев, diminutive мизи́нчик)

1. little finger
2. little toe

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “мизинец”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress