Etymograph

English

digitigrade

Digitigrade comes from Latin digitus ‘finger, toe, digit’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdigitus1‘finger, toe, digit’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentdigitigrade1
  3. Englishtodaydigitigrade1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English digitigrade

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdigitusWiktionary, English digitigrade‘finger, toe, digit’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentdigitigradeWiktionary, English digitigrade
  3. EnglishtodaydigitigradeWiktionary, English digitigrade

Linked words

through Latin digitus ‘finger, toe, digit’

digitalis, 9 more

Today it means

adj Of an animal: walking on the toes, putting the weight of the body mainly on the ball of the foot, with the back of the foot, or heel, raised.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “digitigrade”. 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 / digitigrade

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