digit(i)-

A finger.

[Latin digitus, finger or toe.]

A mammal that is digitigrade (Latin -gradus, walking) walks on its toes, as a cat does, not touching the ground with its heels; something digitate is shaped like a spread hand; digital, literally relating to the fingers, now more commonly refers to signals or information represented by discrete values (the related Latin word digit has come to mean a numeral, because people counted on their fingers). It is found less obviously in digitalis, a drug from the dried leaves of foxgloves that stimulates the heart muscle; this derives from the modern Latin genus name of the foxglove, given it because the flower resembles a finger stall or thimble.

Visit Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words site for 2000+ articles on English!

Copyright © Michael Quinion 2008–. All rights reserved. Page last updated 23 September 2008.
Your comments and suggestions on the site are very welcome.