digit English · revision 39809

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=?a1400, Rara Mathematica|origins=la digitus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈdɪd͡ʒɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|digitus|t=finger, toe; finger's breadth]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(SOED 2002) which in medieval Latin also meant each of the numbers below ten, a use found in British sources from the 12th century.^(OED 2026) The numerical sense comes from counting on the fingers.^(Etymonline)^(ODE 2010)^(Skeat 1911)^(Barnhart 1988) The origin of the Latin word is uncertain;^(OED 2026) Etymonline, Barnhart, Ayto and the AHD connect it with [[m|la|dīcō|t=to say]] and the Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*deyḱ-|t=to show, point out]], so that a finger would be a “pointer”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Ayto 2005)^(AHD 2024) while Merriam-Webster refers it to the word family of [[toe]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A whole number less than ten, any of the numerals from 1 to 9 (or 0 to 9): ?a1400, in a Middle English arithmetic printed in ''Rara Mathematica''.^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates it to probably before 1400, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew's ''De Proprietatibus Rerum'',^(Barnhart 1988) and Etymonline to the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The original Latin sense came into English only later: a finger or thumb, or a toe, is recorded from 1644, in John Bulwer's ''Chirologia'',^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) and an animal's toe from 1756.^(OED 2026) In between, ''digit'' was borrowed for measures: in astronomy, one twelfth of the diameter of the sun or moon, used to give the size of an eclipse, from 1591,^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) and a finger's breadth, about three quarters of an inch, from 1625.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) gave the measure of length as its first sense.^(Johnson 1755) Weekley noted that the numerical sense came first because Arabic notation was based on the ten fingers.^(Weekley 1921) The Oxford ''Word Origins'' dates [[digital]] to the late 15th century, with its communications sense arising in the mid-20th century.^(Cresswell 2021) In American slang ''digits'' has meant a telephone number since 1989.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * ?a1400 – a whole number less than ten.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1591 – astronomy: a twelfth of the diameter of the sun or moon.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1625 – a finger's breadth as a unit of length.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1628 – verb (obsolete): to point out.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1644 – a finger, thumb or toe.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1756 – an animal's toe.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1989 – slang: ''digits'', a telephone number.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of the ten [[numeral|alt=numerals]] from 0 to 9, especially as part of a longer number: ''Enter the six digits of your code.''^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A [[finger]], [[thumb]] or [[toe]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (astronomy) One twelfth of the apparent diameter of the sun or moon, used in measuring an [[eclipse]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (historical) A unit of length equal to about three quarters of an inch.^(OED 2026)^(Johnson 1755)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[digital]]

+ * [[digitiform]]

+ * [[digitize]]

+ * [[double-digit]]

+ * [[binary digit]]

+ * [[significant digit]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[digitalis]]

+ * [[prestidigitation]]

+ * [[index]]

+ * [[indicate]]

+ * [[diction]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}