digitus

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin digitus. Doublet of digit. === Noun === digitus (plural digiti) (historical) An Ancient Roman unit of length, approximately 0.73 inches. == Latin == === Alternative forms === dictus === Etymology === Traditionally derived from Proto-Italic *digitos, from Proto-Indo-European *deyǵ- (“to show, point out, pronounce solemnly”), variant of the root *deyḱ- that also gave Latin dīcō (“to say, speak talk”) and English toe; fingers were thus "pointers" or "indicators". De Vaan, however, is skeptical, as no other term exhibits a comparable change from *-ḱ- to a *-ǵ-. The "number" sense comes from the fact that fingers were used for counting up to ten. Indo-European cognates include Sanskrit दिशति (diśáti, “to show, point out”), Ancient Greek δείκνῡμῐ (deíknūmĭ, “to show”), δῐ́κη (dĭ́kē, “manner, custom”), Old English tǣċan (“to show; to point out”, English teach) and tācn (“sign; token”, English token); compare the similar semantic shift in English teacher (“forefinger, index finger”). The relation to Ancient Greek δᾰ́κτῠλος (dắktŭlos, “finger”) is unclear, particularly as the latter term's phonetics suggest a substrate origin. === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈdɪ.ɡɪ.tʊs] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈdiː.d͡ʒi.tus] === Noun === digitus m (genitive digitī); second declension a finger, toe (mathematics) a digit, number an inch (in ancient times, a 16th part of a Roman foot) a twig ==== Declension ==== Second-declension noun (alternative genitive plural in -um). ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== === References === “digitus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “digitus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers "digitus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887) “digitus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[1], London: Macmillan and Co. “digitus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers “digitus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin == Middle English == === Noun === digitus alternative form of digit