# thumb

> English word · Noun · IPA /θʌm/ · frequency rank #7,071

## Definitions
1. The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers.
2. The part of a slider that may be moved linearly along the slider.
3. A thumbnail picture.
4. A top hatch plate for covering an excavator bucket, used to keep material in the digger bucket after scooping it up, and not letting it spill out.

## Etymology
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 (amūt, “strong”), Sanskrit तुम्र (túmra, “strong, thick”). The parasitic ‐b has existed since the late 13th century. Doublet of tomb.

## Easily confused with
- **tub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thumb-vs-tub)
- **tum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thumb-vs-tum)
- **thus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thumb-vs-thus)
- **tomb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thumb-vs-tomb)
- **Thun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thumb-vs-thun)
- **trump** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thumb-vs-trump)
- **thyme** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thumb-vs-thyme)
- **thump** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thumb-vs-thump)
- **thunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thumb-vs-thunk)
- **Thu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thu-vs-thumb)
- **them** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/them-vs-thumb)
- **thug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thug-vs-thumb)
- **Thom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thom-vs-thumb)
- **thud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thud-vs-thumb)
- **theme** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/theme-vs-thumb)
- **throb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/throb-vs-thumb)
- **Thule** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thule-vs-thumb)

## Common misspellings (8)
`htumb`, `thhumb`, `thmub`, `thubm`, `thumbb`, `thummb`, `tthumb`, `tuhmb`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/thumb