Where does “forefinger” come from?
Forefinger comes from Old English fore- combined with finger, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European pénkʷe, the root for five and finger.
forefinger (English): The index finger: the first finger next to the...
Definitions
- The index finger: the first finger next to the...
Ancestry of “forefinger”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | forefynger | The index finger finger between the thumb and middle finger |
| 2 | Middle English | fynger | A finger; The toes; Something unimportant, small,... |
| 3 | Old English | finger | finger |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | fingr | finger |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | fingraz | finger |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | penkʷrós | — |