finger

English

Etymology

From Middle English fynger, finger, from Old English finger (“finger”), from Proto-West Germanic *fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz (“finger”), from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós, from *pénkʷe (“five”).

Compare West Frisian finger, Low German/German Finger, Dutch vinger, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish finger; also Old Armenian հինգեր-որդ (hinger-ord, “fifth”). More at five.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪŋɡə/
• (General American) enPR: fĭngʹ-gər, IPA^(key): /ˈfɪŋɡəɹ/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪŋəɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɪŋɡə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: fin‧ger

Noun

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, 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”, in 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:
   • 1915, Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson, “The How and Why Library”, in Life, Section VIII:

     The starfish eats with five fingers.

   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, page 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, page 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, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, 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. (figurative) 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).
      • 1648, John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick:

        a piece of steel three fingers thick

   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

• (anatomy): See Thesaurus:finger
• (zoology): toe (when on four legs); claw, talon (usually sharp)
• (finger-shaped objects): tendril (in plants)
• (airport walkway): See jet bridge
• (finger width): See digit
• (slang for police informer): See Thesaurus:informant
• (skill with the fingers): fingering technique; touch
• (British slang for person): bloke, lad, boy, guv

Hyponyms

• (anatomy): index finger, forefinger; middle finger; ring finger; little finger, pinkie; thumb, hallux

Derived terms

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: finga

Translations

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To identify or point out; to blame for something.
   • 2016, Joseph Henrich, chapter 6, in The Secret of Our Success , Princeton: Princeton University Press, →ISBN:

     This makes it quite difficult to finger specific gene variants, since any one variant contributes only tiny effects.

   • 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 report to or identify for the authorities; to inform on.

   Synonyms: put the finger on, rat on, rat out, squeal on, tattle on, turn in; see also Thesaurus:rat out

3. (transitive) To poke, probe, feel, or fondle with a finger or fingers.
   • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Goe, get you gone: and let the papers lye: / You would be fingring them, to anger me.

   • 1895–1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, published 1898, →OCLC, (please specify the page number(s)):

     "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.

4. (transitive, sex) To use the fingers to penetrate or sexually stimulate one's own or another person's vulva, vagina, or anus.

   Synonyms: fingerbang, fingerfuck

   • 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.

5. (transitive, music) To use specified finger positions in producing notes on a musical instrument.
6. (transitive, music) To provide instructions in written music as to which fingers are to be used to produce particular notes or passages.
7. (transitive, Internet) To query (a user's status) using the Finger protocol.
   • 1996, Marc Saltzman, Sean McFadden, Internet Games Directory, Lycos Press, →ISBN, page 29:

     There is also a hot-link to "finger" the guys at id to see what they're working on next (John Carmack, John Cash […]

   • 1996, Yves Bellefeuille, “List of useful freeware”, in comp.archives.msdos.d (Usenet):

     PGP mail welcome (finger me for my key).

8. (obsolete) To steal; to purloin.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     in the dark / Grop'd I to finde out them; had my desire, / Finger'd their Packet, and in fine, withdrew / To mine owne roome againe,

9. (transitive, obsolete) To execute, as any delicate work.

Translations

See also

• artiodactyl
• dactyl
• dactylography
• dactylology
• fist
• macrodactyly
• perissodactyl
• prestidigitation
• pterodactyl

References

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

Anagrams

• fringe

Danish

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fenɡər/,

Noun

finger c (singular definite fingeren, plural indefinite fingre)

1. finger

Inflection

Further reading

• finger on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

Etymology 2

See fingere (“to simulate”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fenɡɡeːr/, ,

Verb

finger or fingér

1. imperative of fingere

Middle English

Noun

finger

1. Alternative form of fynger

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

finger

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology

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

Noun

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

1. (anatomy) a finger

Derived terms

Related terms

• tommel

References

• “finger” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

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

Noun

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

1. (anatomy) a finger

Derived terms

Related terms

• tommel

References

• “finger” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfin.ɡer/,

Noun

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 little finger.

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

• Middle English: fynger, finger, vinger, fyngir, fyngur, fyngyr, fiyngir, ffynger
  • English: finger
    • Sranan Tongo: finga
  • Scots: finger
  • Yola: vinger

Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *fingr.

Noun

finger m

1. finger

Inflection

Descendants

• North Frisian:

  Föhr-Amrum: fanger

• West Frisian: finger

Old Swedish

Alternative forms

• ᚠᛁᚿᚵᚽᚱ

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfiŋɡɛr/

Noun

finger m

1. finger

Declension

head=finger

or (with neuter gender)

acc_pl=finger
acc_sg=finger
gen_sg=fingers
nom_pl=finger
nom_sg=finger

Descendants

• Swedish: finger

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English finger.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /finɡer/

• Hyphenation: fin‧ger

Noun

finger m (Cyrillic spelling фингер)

1. (aviation, travel) jet bridge

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English finger.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfinɡeɾ/
• Rhymes: -inɡeɾ
• Syllabification: fin‧ger

Noun

finger m (plural fingeres)

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

Usage notes

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

• “finger”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:

finger

Wikipedia ^sv

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪŋːɛr/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

finger n or c

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

Usage notes

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

Declension

Derived terms

See also

• hand
• knoge
• nagel
• tumme

References

• finger in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

West Frisian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪŋər/

Noun

finger c (plural fingers, diminutive fingerke)

1. finger

Further reading

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