Etymograph

English

finger

Finger comes from Old English finger, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós, which is related to the word for ‘five’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*penkʷrósuncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fingraz‘finger’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fingrreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150finger
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fynger‘a finger’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591finger

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*penkʷrósuncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fingraz‘finger’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fingrreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150finger
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fynger‘a finger’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591finger

Earliest quotation: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “Goe, get you gone: and let the papers lye:…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe ‘five’

five, fifth, punch, pentagon, pimp, fin, quintet, quint, cinque, quine, 22 more

Today it means

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.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós / finger

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