finger

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈfɪŋ.ɡə/, US /ˈfɪŋ.ɡɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English finger, inherited from Old English finger,^[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *fingraz,^[2][3] the source also of Dutch vinger, German Finger, Old Norse fingr and Gothic figgrs.^[2][3][4] It has no cognates outside Germanic,^[2] and is perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *penkwrós, from *pénkwe “five”,^[3][4] the source of five.^[5][3] Hoad compares fist.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

One of the five members of the hand, in a narrower sense not counting the thumb: about 950 in the OED, about 825 in Barnhart.^[6][3] As the instrument of work, especially the finger of God, from about 825.^[6]

Semantic evolution

As a unit of measure for liquor or the breadth of a finger it is from late Old English.^[2] Phrases followed: lay a finger on (mid-16th century), burn one's fingers (1546), point the finger at (early 17th century), fingers crossed (late 19th century) and pull one's finger out (20th century).^[7][6] The verb, to touch or point with the finger, is from the early 15th century,^[2][3] to play an instrument with the fingers from the 1510s (1515 in the OED),^[2][6] and to pilfer from the 1520s.^[2] To inform on a criminal or point out a victim is underworld slang from 1930.^[2][3] Fingernail is from about 1225, and fingerprint from 1859.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 825 – a finger.^[3]
• c. 1225 – fingernail.^[3]
• early 15th century – verb, to touch.^[2]
• 1515 – to play an instrument.^[6]
• 1530 – to pilfer.^[6]
• 1859 – fingerprint.^[3]
• 1930 – to inform on.^[2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. One of the long thin parts at the end of the hand, especially one other than the thumb.
2. The part of a glove that covers a finger.
3. Something long and narrow like a finger.
4. The width of a finger, used as a measure of drink in a glass.

Verb

1. To touch or feel with the fingers.
2. To play an instrument with the fingers in a particular way.
3. (slang) To identify someone to the police; to inform on.

Word family

• fingerer
• fingerless
• fingerlike

Related words

• five
• fist

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press