Etymograph

English

digitate

Digitate comes from Latin digitus ‘finger, toe’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdigitus1‘finger, toe’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdigitātus2
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1658digitate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin digitatus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English digitate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1658, John Robinson: “The supine resting on Water onely by retention of…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdigitusWiktionary, Latin digitatus‘finger, toe’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdigitātusWiktionary, English digitate
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1658digitateWiktionary, English digitate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1658, John Robinson: “The supine resting on Water onely by retention of…”

first attested The adjective is first attested in 1661, the verb in 1657; the adjective was borrowed from Latin digitātus (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), the verb from digitātus, perfect passive participle of digitō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)) (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

The adjective is first attested in 1661, the verb in 1657; the adjective was borrowed from Latin digitātus (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), the verb from digitātus, perfect passive participle of digitō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to point out, to show’

index, teach, toe, predict, dictionary, indicate, token, indication, indicator, addict, contradictory, contradiction, indicative, contradict, dictator, syndicate, ditto, dictate, diction, predicate, dictum, ditty, syndicalism, interdict, dict, indicia, tache, 33 more

Today it means

adj Having digits, fingers or things shaped like fingers; fingerlike

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “digitate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin digitatus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin digitus / digitate

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