thumb

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The short, thick finger on the side of the hand.

   She accidentally hit her thumb with the hammer.

2. 2
   verb

   To turn the pages of a book or magazine quickly.

   He thumbed through the magazine while waiting.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Thumb comes from Old English and shares an ancient root with Latin tumere, “to swell.” It was probably named as the “fat” or “swollen” finger; thimble was later formed from thumb.

Derived from Middle English thombe, thoume, thoumbe (“thumb”), from Old English þūma (“thumb”), from Proto-West Germanic *þūmō (“thumb”), from Proto-Germanic *þūmô (“thumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *tūm- (“to grow”). Cognate with West Frisian tomme (“thumb”), Dutch duim (“thumb”), Low German Duum (“thumb”), German Daumen (“thumb”), Danish and Norwegian tomme (“inch”), Norn tum (“thumb”), Swedish tumme (“thumb”), tum (“inch”), Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “burial mound”). Also compare Welsh tyfu (“to grow”), Latin tumēre (“to swell”), Lithuanian tumėti (“to thicken, clot”), Avestan 𐬀𐬨𐬏𐬙 (amū…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary