digitus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈdɪ.ɡɪ.tʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdiː.d͡ʒi.tus]^[1]

Forms

digitus m (genitive digitī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2] A link with dīcō “to say, show”, the finger as “pointer”, is attractive and often assumed, from Proto-Indo-European *deyǵ- (“to show”) beside Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-, but de Vaan notes that the change of /k/ to /g/ would be unparalleled in Latin.^[2][1][3][4] The Thesaurus also mentions comparisons with Old High German zēha (“toe”) and Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌺𐌽𐍃 (taikns, “sign”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius uses it.^[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It was a finger, digitus pollex the thumb and digitus index the forefinger, and a toe.^[3][4] Cicero speaks of touching something with the tips of the fingers and of touching the sky with a finger.^[7] As a measure it was a finger's breadth, a sixteenth of a Roman foot.^[3][1] It was also the tip of a twig.^[3][1]

In medieval Latin it was used in counting on the fingers and in mathematics.^[8][9] It survives as Italian dito, Spanish dedo, Portuguese dedo and Romanian deget.^[1] English digit is recorded in the late 14th century as a numeral below ten, since such numbers were counted on the fingers.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of touching with the fingertips.^[7][6]
• late 14th century – English digit is recorded.^[10]
• mid-15th century – English digital is recorded, from digitālis.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A finger, digitus pollex, the thumb.^[3][11]
2. A toe.^[3]
3. A finger's breadth, an inch (a sixteenth of a foot).^[3][1]
4. The tip of a branch, a twig.^[3][1]
5. (mathematics) A digit.^[1]

Word family

• digitābulum
• digitālis
• digitātus
• digitulus
• sesquidigitus
• digitō

Related words

• English digit
• English digital

Usage notes

Isidore calls the finger's breadth the smallest of the land measures.^[12] The Digitī Īdaeī were the priests of Cybele, the Idaean Dactyls.^[11][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).