See leech-finger on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "leche fingir"
},
"expansion": "Middle English leche fingir",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "lǣċefinger",
"4": "",
"5": "fourth finger, leech-finger"
},
"expansion": "Old English lǣċefinger (“fourth finger, leech-finger”)",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "leech",
"3": "finger",
"t1": "physician"
},
"expansion": "leech (“physician”) + finger",
"name": "compound"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "non",
"2": "lǽknisfingr",
"3": "",
"4": "leech-finger"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse lǽknisfingr (“leech-finger”)",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "læknisfingur"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic læknisfingur",
"name": "cog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Middle English leche fingir, læchefinger, from Old English lǣċefinger (“fourth finger, leech-finger”), equivalent to leech (“physician”) + finger. Compare Old Norse lǽknisfingr (“leech-finger”), Icelandic læknisfingur. According to medieval belief, a nerve or artery ran from this digit to the heart. It gave the finger a prominent role in medical lore and practice. Doctors would use it when applying treatments, for example.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "leech-fingers",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
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"expansion": "leech-finger (plural leech-fingers)",
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}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
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{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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},
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},
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Anatomy",
"orig": "en:Anatomy",
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{
"kind": "topical",
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"name": "Fingers",
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}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1973, Godfried Storms, Anglo-Saxon magic:",
"text": "Sing three Our Fathers on your leechfinger, and write around the sore.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2005, Kisma Reidling, Faery Initiations:",
"text": "The Leech finger has Coll on it, the sage Hazel, who is the master physician, and is surmounted by Saille, the Willow of enchantment.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2006, Catherine E. Karkov, Sarah Larratt Keefer, Karen Louise Jolly, The Place of the Cross in Anglo-Saxon England:",
"text": "Similarly, the other wound item above it, for an unknown swelling (uncufrum swyle) involves singing the Pater Noster thrice over 'your leechfinger' (ðine læcefinger, the middle finger) and writing the Latin formula around the sore as well as speaking it.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2007, Desmond Morris, The Naked Woman:",
"text": "For some, simply to stroke the ring finger over a wound was enough to heal it and it eventually became known as the healing finger or the leech finger. In parts of Europe it is still used today as the only finger suitable for scratching the skin.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2007, Charles Hodgson, Carnal Knowledge:",
"text": "This same document tells us that this same finger was once called the \"physician finger,\" from the Latin digitits medicus, and that it was also called the \"leech finger,\" since doctors were known as \"leeches\" before they were called \"physicians.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2012, Mark Forsyth, The Etymologicon:",
"text": "The fourth finger has a strange anatomical property that gives it both its ancient and modern names: the leech finger and the ring finger.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The finger next to the little finger; ring-finger."
],
"id": "en-leech-finger-en-noun-H2sx2xTf",
"links": [
[
"anatomy",
"anatomy"
],
[
"finger",
"finger"
],
[
"little finger",
"little finger"
],
[
"ring-finger",
"ring-finger"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(anatomy, obsolete) The finger next to the little finger; ring-finger."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "gold-finger"
},
{
"word": "marriage finger"
},
{
"word": "medical finger"
},
{
"word": "medicinal finger"
},
{
"word": "physic finger"
},
{
"word": "physical finger"
},
{
"word": "physician finger"
},
{
"word": "ring-finger"
},
{
"word": "ring-man"
},
{
"word": "third finger"
},
{
"word": "leechfinger"
},
{
"word": "leech finger"
}
],
"tags": [
"obsolete"
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}
],
"word": "leech-finger"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
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"2": "enm",
"3": "leche fingir"
},
"expansion": "Middle English leche fingir",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "lǣċefinger",
"4": "",
"5": "fourth finger, leech-finger"
},
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"name": "inh"
},
{
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"1": "en",
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},
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},
{
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"4": "leech-finger"
},
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"name": "cog"
},
{
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"1": "is",
"2": "læknisfingur"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic læknisfingur",
"name": "cog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From Middle English leche fingir, læchefinger, from Old English lǣċefinger (“fourth finger, leech-finger”), equivalent to leech (“physician”) + finger. Compare Old Norse lǽknisfingr (“leech-finger”), Icelandic læknisfingur. According to medieval belief, a nerve or artery ran from this digit to the heart. It gave the finger a prominent role in medical lore and practice. Doctors would use it when applying treatments, for example.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "leech-fingers",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
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{
"args": {},
"expansion": "leech-finger (plural leech-fingers)",
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],
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"pos": "noun",
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"English terms derived from Old English",
"English terms inherited from Middle English",
"English terms inherited from Old English",
"English terms with obsolete senses",
"English terms with quotations",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned",
"en:Anatomy",
"en:Fingers"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1973, Godfried Storms, Anglo-Saxon magic:",
"text": "Sing three Our Fathers on your leechfinger, and write around the sore.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2005, Kisma Reidling, Faery Initiations:",
"text": "The Leech finger has Coll on it, the sage Hazel, who is the master physician, and is surmounted by Saille, the Willow of enchantment.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2006, Catherine E. Karkov, Sarah Larratt Keefer, Karen Louise Jolly, The Place of the Cross in Anglo-Saxon England:",
"text": "Similarly, the other wound item above it, for an unknown swelling (uncufrum swyle) involves singing the Pater Noster thrice over 'your leechfinger' (ðine læcefinger, the middle finger) and writing the Latin formula around the sore as well as speaking it.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2007, Desmond Morris, The Naked Woman:",
"text": "For some, simply to stroke the ring finger over a wound was enough to heal it and it eventually became known as the healing finger or the leech finger. In parts of Europe it is still used today as the only finger suitable for scratching the skin.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2007, Charles Hodgson, Carnal Knowledge:",
"text": "This same document tells us that this same finger was once called the \"physician finger,\" from the Latin digitits medicus, and that it was also called the \"leech finger,\" since doctors were known as \"leeches\" before they were called \"physicians.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2012, Mark Forsyth, The Etymologicon:",
"text": "The fourth finger has a strange anatomical property that gives it both its ancient and modern names: the leech finger and the ring finger.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The finger next to the little finger; ring-finger."
],
"links": [
[
"anatomy",
"anatomy"
],
[
"finger",
"finger"
],
[
"little finger",
"little finger"
],
[
"ring-finger",
"ring-finger"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(anatomy, obsolete) The finger next to the little finger; ring-finger."
],
"tags": [
"obsolete"
],
"topics": [
"anatomy",
"medicine",
"sciences"
],
"wikipedia": [
"JSTOR"
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "gold-finger"
},
{
"word": "marriage finger"
},
{
"word": "medical finger"
},
{
"word": "medicinal finger"
},
{
"word": "physic finger"
},
{
"word": "physical finger"
},
{
"word": "physician finger"
},
{
"word": "ring-finger"
},
{
"word": "ring-man"
},
{
"word": "third finger"
},
{
"word": "leechfinger"
},
{
"word": "leech finger"
}
],
"word": "leech-finger"
}
Download raw JSONL data for leech-finger meaning in All languages combined (4.3kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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