finger
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "finger", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "finger" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "finger" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
finger is aEnglishnoun. It means: A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb. Pronounced /ˈfɪŋɡə/. It ranks #3,104 in English word frequency. Often confused with fixer and fiver.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | finger |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɪŋɡə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #3,104 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for finger is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɪŋɡə/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,104 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 34 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for finger, with forms such as "ffinger", "figner", and "finegr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fixer", "fiver", "fisher", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English fynger, finger, from Old English finger (“finger”), from Proto-West Germanic *fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz (“finger”), from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós, from *pénkʷe (“five”). Compare West Frisian finger, Low G… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is finger, spelled F-I-N-G-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb.
- 2Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals, particularly
- 3Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals
- 4Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals
- 5Similar or similar-looking extremities in other animals
- 6Something similar in shape to the human finger, particularly
- 7Something similar in shape to the human finger
- 8Something similar in shape to the human finger
- 9Something similar in shape to the human finger
- 10Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body, particularly
- 11Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body
- 12Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body
- 13Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body
- 14Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body
- 15Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body
- 16Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body
- 17Something similarly extending, (especially) from a larger body
- 18Something similar in function or agency to the human finger, (usually) with regard to touching, grasping, or pointing.
- 19Something similar in function or agency to the human finger, (usually) with regard to touching, grasping, or pointing.
- 20Something similar in function or agency to the human finger, (usually) with regard to touching, grasping, or pointing.
- 21Something similar in function or agency to the human finger, (usually) with regard to touching, grasping, or pointing.
- 22Something similar in function or agency to the human finger, (usually) with regard to touching, grasping, or pointing.
- 23Something similar in function or agency to the human finger, (usually) with regard to touching, grasping, or pointing.
- 24Various units of measure based or notionally based on the adult human finger, particularly
- 25Various units of measure based or notionally based on the adult human finger, particularly
- 26Various units of measure based or notionally based on the adult human finger, particularly
- 27Various units of measure based or notionally based on the adult human finger, particularly
- 28A part of a glove intended to cover a finger.
- 29Skill in the use of the fingers, as in playing upon a musical instrument.
- 30Someone skilled in the use of their fingers, (especially) a pickpocket.
- 31A person.
- 32An obscene or insulting gesture made by raising one's middle finger towards someone with the palm of one's hand facing inwards.
- 33Any of the individual receivers used in a rake receiver to decode signal components.
- 34An act of fingering (inserting a finger into someone's vagina or rectum for sexual pleasure).
Etymology
PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English fynger, finger, from Old English finger (“finger”), from Proto-West Germanic *fingr, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz (“finger”), from Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós, from *pénkʷe (“five”). Compare West Frisian finger, Low German/German Finger, Dutch vinger, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish finger; also Old Armenian հինգեր-որդ (hinger-ord, “fifth”). More at five.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ffinger,figner,finegr,fingerr,fingger,fingre,finnger,fniger,ifnger
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for finger
Misspelling Variants of "finger"
Frequency rank: #3,104 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter F in our English index: