finger
/ˈfɪŋɡɚ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.48 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other animals.
noun
Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals, particularly
noun
Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals
noun
Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals
noun
Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals
noun
Something similar in shape to the human finger, particularly
Example Sentences
- "Humans have two hands and ten fingers. Each hand has one thumb and four fingers."
- "[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."
- "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."
- "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."
- "The starfish eats with five fingers."
- "...spires whose ‘silent finger points to Heaven’..."
Etymology
PIE word *pénkʷe 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”). Cognate with West Frisian finger, German and Low German Finger, Dutch vinger, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish finger, Faroese and Icelandic fingur; see also Old Armenian հինգեր-որդ (hinger-ord, “fifth”). More at five.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: fynger, finger, *fingr, *fingraz, *penkʷrós, -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/
- British English: /ˈfɪŋɡəː/