English

fingerroot

From finger + root.

A compound of finger + root

Proto-Germanic *fingraz ‘finger’

Proto-West Germanic *fingr

Old English finger

Middle English fynger ‘a finger’

Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds ‘root’

Proto-Germanic *wrōts ‘root’

Old Norse rót ‘root’

Old English rōt ‘root’

Middle English rote ‘underground part of a plant’

English root

Today it means

noun Boesenbergia rotunda, a plant related to ginger, with fingerlike roots used as a spice.

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

Etymograph / fingerroot