thimble

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English thimel, also themel and thimbil,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English þȳmel (“thumbstall, fingerstall”),^[5][3][6][7] formed from þūma (“thumb”) and the suffix -el, which forms names of instruments, as in handle.^[5][3][8] Orel and Wiktionary reconstruct Proto-Germanic *þūmilaz (“thumb-covering”), from *þūmô (“thumb”),^[9][1] and the closest cognate is Old Norse þumall (“thumb of a glove”);^{[5][10][11][9]} Wiktionary also compares Dutch duimeling (“thumbstall”) and German Däumling (“thumbstall”).^[1] The b appeared in the mid-15th century, probably under the influence of thumb, which had it earlier,^[3] or developed after m as in humble, nimble and bramble.^[5][12][13] The Middle English form thymbyl is in the “Promptorium Parvulorum” (1440).^[12][2][7] Johnson reported Minshew's guess that the word was a corruption of “thumb bell”.^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sheath for the thumb or finger, a fingerstall: Old English, in a remedy of the Leechdoms for a scabby nail.^[5][7] Ayto notes that the Old English word is recorded only once.^[15] The Middle English word is the sewing thimble, first in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus (before 1398),^[2] while the OED's first quotation is from Hoccleve, about 1412.^[5]

Semantic evolution

When the word reappears in the 15th century it is a leather guard for the finger used to push in a needle; metal thimbles came in during the 17th century, and the name passed to them.^[15][3][5] The OED suggests that a leather thumbstall was the earliest form of the thing.^[5][11] The shape gave the word many technical uses: the ring in the heel of a gate that turns on the hook of the gatepost (1550, local), the grooved metal ring spliced into the eye of a rope on ships (1711); since 1789 it has also named various rings, sleeves and ferrules in machinery.^[5] The thimble of the thimblerigger's trick is recorded from 1716, in Gay,^[5] and the Parliamentary army of the Civil War was nicknamed the Thimble and Bodkin Army (1647).^[5] In underworld slang, from before 1790, a thimble was a watch, from the shape of the nautical thimble.^[16] Johnson (1755) defined it as "a metal cover by which women secure their fingers from the needle when they sew", quoting Shakespeare's King John.^[14] In dialect, thimble-pie was a rap on the head with a thimbled finger, a punishment of the old village dame schools.^[17]

Timeline

• Old English – a thumbstall or fingerstall.^[5][7]
• before 1398 – a cap worn on the finger in sewing.^[2] The OED's first quotation is from about 1412.^[5]
• 1440 – the form thymbyl, with b.^[12][2]
• 1550 – the ring in the heel of a gate.^[5]
• 1647 – the Thimble and Bodkin Army.^[5]
• 1711 – nautical, a metal ring forming the eye of a rope.^[5]
• 1716 – the thimble of the thimblerig.^[5]
• 1789 – a ring, tube or sleeve in machinery.^[5]
• before 1790 – slang, a watch.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small cap of metal or plastic with a pitted surface, worn on the end of a finger to protect it and push the needle when sewing: She could not find her thimble and pricked her finger.^[18][19][5]
2. A small cap, ring, tube or sleeve shaped like this in a machine or fitting, such as a ferrule or bushing.^[18][19][5]
3. (nautical) A metal ring with a grooved outer edge, fitted into the eye of a rope or cable.^[18][5]
4. A thimbleful.^[18]

Word family

• thimblelike
• thimbleberry
• thimbleful
• thimblerig
• thimbleweed

Related words

• thumb
• thumbstall

Usage notes

Wright records dialect forms such as thimmel, thimmle, thimal and Scots thumble.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
13. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
16. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
18. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
19. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster