Etymograph

English

thumb

Thumb comes from Proto-Indo-European *tūm- ‘to grow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tūm-‘to grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þūmôreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þūmōreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þūma
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thombe
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1849–1861thumb

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tūm-‘to grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þūmôreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þūmōreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þūma
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thombe
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1849–1861thumb

Earliest quotation: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, London: Longman: “He gravely informed the enemy that all his cards…”

The story

Also compare Welsh tyfu (‘to grow’), Latin tumēre (‘to swell’), Lithuanian tumėti (‘to thicken, clot’), Avestan 𐬀𐬨𐬏𐬙 (amūt, “strong”), Sanskrit तुम्र (túmra, “strong, thick”). The parasitic ‐b has existed since the late 13th century.

Linked words

through Old English þūma

thimble

Today it means

noun The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tūm- / thumb

Shirt and support for this word