Old English fingor, from Proto-Germanic *fingraz (cf. Old Saxon fingar, Old Frisian finger, Old Norse fingr, Dutch vinger, German Finger, Gothic figgrs), with no cognates outside Germanic; perhaps connected with PIE *penkwe-, the root meaning "five."
As a unit of measure (Middle English) it represents the breadth of a finger, about three-quarters of an inch. They generally are numbered from the thumb, and named index finger, fool's finger, leech- or physic-finger, and ear-finger.
finger fin·ger (fĭng'gər)
n.
One of the five digits of the hand, especially one other than the thumb.
butterfingers, five fingers, give five fingers to, give someone the finger, not lay a glove on someone, play stinky-pinky, put one's finger on something, put the finger on someone, stand around with one's finger up one's ass
tool
A Unix program that displays information about a particular user or all users logged on the system, or a remote system. Finger typically shows full name, last login time, idle time, terminal line, and terminal location (where applicable). It may also display a plan file left by the user (see also Hacking X for Y). Some versions take a "-l" (long) argument which yields more information.
[Jargon File]
(2002-10-06)