Affixes

This prefix forms a few adjectives relating to or involving finger-like divisions. The only relatively common examples are the scientic terms digitiform, finger-like, digitigrade (Latin ‑gradus, walking) for an animal that walks on its toes, as a cat does, not touching the ground with its heels, and digitate, which can refer to an animal having separate or divided digits or toes or to leaves that have deep divisions or parts (such as those of the horse chestnut).

We have the closely related word digit in English for a numeral, perhaps because people counted on their fingers, and this has led to digital, which now most commonly refers to signals or information represented by discrete values.

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.