{"id":5657,"date":"2020-12-02T17:14:33","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T17:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/?p=5657"},"modified":"2024-03-02T15:57:03","modified_gmt":"2024-03-02T15:57:03","slug":"fingers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/2020\/12\/02\/fingers\/","title":{"rendered":"Fingers and Toes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Words for <strong>finger<\/strong>, <strong>toe<\/strong> and related things in Celtic languages.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/omniglot\/49423747183\/in\/album-72157712783266383\/\" title=\"Laugh\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/49423747183_4ceaec05cc_z.jpg\" alt=\"Laugh\" width=\"457\" height=\"640\"><\/a><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Celtic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*makro<\/strong> = finger<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Irish (Go&iacute;delc)<\/th>\n<td><strong>m&eacute;r<\/strong> [m&#690;e&#720;r] = finger, digit, toe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>m&eacute;r, mer, me&oacute;ir, me&uacute;ir<\/strong> = finger, digit, toe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Irish (Gaeilge)<\/th>\n<td><strong>m&eacute;ar<\/strong> [m&#690;e&#720;&#638;&#736;] = finger, digit, toe, leg (of crustaceans, mollusks, etc), arm (of a cuttle fish)<br>\n<strong>an mh&eacute;ar thosaigh\/cholbha<\/strong> = the forefinger, index finger<br>\n<strong>an mh&eacute;ar fhada\/l&aacute;ir\/mhe&aacute;in<\/strong> = (the) middle finger<br>\n<strong>m&eacute;ar an fh&aacute;inne<\/strong> = ring finger<br>\n<strong>an mh&eacute;ar bheag \/ l&uacute;id&iacute;n \/ l&uacute;ideog<\/strong> =  (the) little finger<br>\n<strong>m&eacute;ar coise<\/strong> = toe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Scottish Gaelic (G&agrave;idhlig)<\/th>\n<td><strong>meur<\/strong> [miar]  = finger, digit, branch (of an organisation\/family), key (in music), point (of an antler), knot (in wood)<br>\n<strong>meur-meomhair<\/strong> =  forefinger, index finger<br>\n<strong>meur-meadhain \/ (am) meur fada \/ (am) meur meadhanach<\/strong> = middle finger<br>\n<strong>m&agrave;thair na l&ugrave;daige \/ mac an aba \/ am madadh fada<\/strong> = ring finger<br>\n<strong>meur beag an airgid \/ plaoisgeag<\/strong> =  little finger<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Manx (Gaelg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>mair<\/strong> = finger, digit, prong, ray, (piano) key, hand (of clock), tributary (of river)<br>\n<strong>corrag \/ corvair<\/strong> = the forefinger, index finger<br>\n<strong>mair vooar<\/strong> = the middle finger<br>\n<strong>mair ny fainey<\/strong> = ring finger<br>\n<strong>mair veg<\/strong> =  the little finger<br>\n<strong>mair chass \/ mair choshey<\/strong> = toe<br>\n<strong>mair choshey veg \/ mair veg ny coshey<\/strong> = little toe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Etymology<\/strong>: possibly from the Proto-Indo-European <em>*mh&#8322;&#7729;ros<\/em> (lean, meager), which is also the root of the English word <strong>meagre\/meager<\/strong>, the French word <strong>maigre<\/strong> (meagre, skinny, lean, thin), and the Spanish word <strong>magro<\/strong> (lean)[<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/meagre#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Celtic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*biss&#299; \/ *bistis<\/strong> = finger<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Irish (Go&iacute;delc)<\/th>\n<td><strong>biss<\/strong> = icicle<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Welsh (Kymraec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>biss, byss, bys<\/strong> = finger, toe, latch<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Welsh (Cymraeg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>bys<\/strong> [b&#616;&#720;s \/ bi&#720;s] = finger (of hand\/glove), toe; medium, agency; hand (of clock); latch<br>\n<strong>bys bawd<\/strong> = thumb<br>\n<strong>bys blaen<\/strong> = forefinger, index finger<br>\n<strong>bys y cogwrn<\/strong> = middle finger (&ldquo;knuckle finger&rdquo;)<br>\n<strong>bys y gyfaredd<\/strong> = ring finger<br>\n<strong>bys bach<\/strong> =  little finger, ear-finger; minute-hand<br>\n<strong>bys(i)aid<\/strong> = as much as can be held on or taken up by the finger, a pinch<br>\n<strong>byseddaf, byseddu, bysedda<\/strong> = to finger, thumb, use the fingers<br>\n<strong>byseddog<\/strong> = having fingers, fingered<br>\n<strong>byseg<\/strong> = thimble<br>\n<strong>bysfedd<\/strong> = finger&rsquo;s breadth, digit<br>\n<strong>byson<\/strong> = ring for the finger<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Cornish<\/th>\n<td><strong>bis\/bes<\/strong> = finger<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle  Cornish (Cernewec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>bis, bes<\/strong> = finger<br>\n<strong>bis truit<\/strong> = toe<br>\n<strong>bisou, besaw<\/strong> = ring<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Cornish (Kernewek)<\/th>\n<td><strong>bys, bes<\/strong> = finger, digit<br>\n<strong>bys bras<\/strong> = thumb<br>\n<strong>bys rag<\/strong> = index finger<br>\n<strong>bys kres<\/strong> = middle finger<br>\n<strong>bys bysow<\/strong> = ring finger<br>\n<strong>bys byghan \/ bes bian<\/strong> =  little finger<br>\n<strong>byskon<\/strong> = thimble<br>\n<strong>bysow, besow<\/strong> = ring<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Breton (Brezonec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>bes, bys, bis<\/strong> = finger<br>\n<strong>besou, bisou<\/strong> = ring<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Breton (Brezhoneg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>biz<\/strong> [bi&#720;s] = finger, hand (of clock), tooth (of tool), leg (of anchor), tentacle, tendril<br>\n<strong>biz-meud<\/strong> = thumb<br>\n<strong>biz-yod<\/strong> = index finger<br>\n<strong>biz bras<\/strong> = middle finger<br>\n<strong>biz-gwalenn \/ biz bizou<\/strong> = ring finger<br>\n<strong>biz bihan \/ skouarnel<\/strong> =  little finger<br>\n<strong>bizou, bizo&ugrave;<\/strong> [&#712;bi&#720;zu] = ring, jewel<br>\n<strong>bizouier<\/strong> = jeweller<br>\n<strong>bizour<\/strong> = jewel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Etymology<\/strong>: from the Proto-Indo-European <em>*g&#695;ist-<\/em> (twig, finger). The French word <strong>bijou<\/strong> (a piece of jewellry), comes from the same root, via the Breton <strong>bizo&ugrave;<\/strong> (ring), from <strong>biz<\/strong> (finger) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/bijou#French\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Proto-Celtic<\/th>\n<td><strong>*m&#257;to<\/strong> = finger<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Welsh (Kymraec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>m&aacute;ut<\/strong> = finger, toe, latch<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Welsh (Kymraec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>mawd, baut, bawd<\/strong> = finger, toe, latch<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Welsh (Cymraeg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>bawd<\/strong> = thumb, big toe; claw (of crab), hoof<br>\n<strong>bawd troed<\/strong> = big toe<br>\n<strong>bawdheglaf, bawdheglu<\/strong> = to hitch-hike<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle  Cornish (Cernewec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>meut<\/strong> = thumb<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Cornish (Kernewek)<\/th>\n<td><strong>meus<\/strong> = thumb<br>\n<strong>meusva<\/strong> = inch<br>\n<strong>meusya<\/strong> = to hitchhike<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Breton (Brezonec)<\/th>\n<td><strong>meut<\/strong> = thumb<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Breton (Brezhoneg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>meud<\/strong> [&#712;m&oslash;&#720;t] = thumb, pincer, claw<br>\n<strong>meud-troad<\/strong> = big toe, toe<br>\n<strong>meudadenn<\/strong> = grip (of the thumb)<br>\n<strong>meudata<\/strong> = to knead with one&rsquo;s thumb<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Etymology<\/strong>: from the Proto-Indo-European <em>*m&#275;-<\/em> [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/bawd#Welsh\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Irish (Go&iacute;delc)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ordu<\/strong> = thumb, big toe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ordu, &oacute;rdu<\/strong> = thumb, big toe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Irish (Gaeilge)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ord&oacute;g<\/strong> [&#712;&#601;u&#638;&#736;d&#810;&#736;o&#720;&#609;] = thumb, big toe, claw, pincers, bit, piece, fragment<br>\n<strong>ord&oacute;g coise<\/strong> = big toe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Scottish Gaelic (G&agrave;idhlig)<\/th>\n<td><strong>&ograve;rdag<\/strong> [&#596;&#720;r&#810;&#736;dag]  = thumb, big toe<br>\n<strong>&ograve;rdag-coise \/ &ograve;rdag-mh&oacute;r<\/strong> = big toe<br>\n<strong>&ograve;rdag-l&agrave;imhe<\/strong> = thumb<br>\n<strong>&ograve;rdag bheag an airgid<\/strong> = little toe, little finger<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Manx (Gaelg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ordaag<\/strong> = thumb<br>\n<strong>ordaag chass \/ ordaag choshey \/ ordaag vooar<\/strong> = big toe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Etymology<\/strong>: possibly from the Old Irish <em>ord\/ordd<\/em> (hammer, piece, fragment, stub), from the Proto-Celtic <em>*ordos<\/em> (hammer) [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ceantar.org\/Dicts\/MB2\/mb28.html#MB.O\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Old Irish (Go&iacute;delc)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ladar<\/strong> = grasp, grip<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ladar, ladair<\/strong> = fork or space between the fingers or between the thumb and the rest of the hand; grip, grasp; space between the toes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Irish (Gaeilge)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ladhar<\/strong> [l&#736;ai&#638;&#736;] = space between toes or fingers, toe, claw, prong, (clawed) hand<br>\n<strong>ladhar mh&oacute;r<\/strong> = big toe<br>\n<strong>ladhar bheag<\/strong> = little toe<br>\n<strong>laidhric&iacute;n<\/strong> = little toe, little finger<br>\n<strong>l&uacute;id&iacute;n \/ l&uacute;ideog<\/strong> = little finger, little toe<br>\n<strong>l&uacute;id&iacute;n coise<\/strong> = little toe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Scottish Gaelic (G&agrave;idhlig)<\/th>\n<td><strong>ladhar<\/strong> [l&#810;&#736;&#612;.&#601;r] = hoof, prong, toe, claw (of lobster)<br>\n<strong>ladhrag<\/strong> [l&#810;&#736;&#612;&#720;rag] = toe, prong, hoof<br>\n<strong>an ladhar m&oacute;r<\/strong> = big toe<br>\n<strong>l&ugrave;dag \/ l&ugrave;dag bheag \/ l&ugrave;dag dhubh na catha<\/strong> [l&#810;&#736;u&#720;dag] = little finger, hinge<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Etymology<\/strong>: unknown [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/ladhar\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.japanesepod101.com\/member\/go.php?r=759259&amp;i=b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/images\/banners\/banner_japanesepod.jpg\" alt=\"The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com\" width=\"630\" height=\"83\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sources: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/\">Wiktionary<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.faclair.com\/\">Am Faclair Beag<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mannin.info\/Mannin\/fockleyr\/m2e.php\">Online Manx Dictionary<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teanglann.ie\/en\/fgb\/ceann\">Teanglann.ie<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/dil.ie\/\">eDIL &ndash; Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk\/sengoidelc\/duil-belrai\/english.html\">In D&uacute;il B&eacute;lrai English &ndash; Old Irish glossary<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/geiriadur.ac.uk\/gpc\/gpc.html\">Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cornishdictionary.org.uk\/browse?field_word_value=penn\">Gerlyver Kernewek<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.arkaevraz.net\/dicobzh\/index.php\">Dictionaire Favereau<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brezhoneg.bzh\/87-termofis.htm\">TermOfis<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wales.ac.uk\/Resources\/Documents\/Research\/CelticLanguages\/EnglishProtoCelticWordList.pdf\">English &ndash; ProtoCeltic WordList<\/a> (PDF), <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/embed\/EtymologicalDictionaryOfProtoCeltic\">Etymological Dictionary Of Proto Celtic<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/my.kualo.com\/uk\/go\/00572\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.kualo.com\/rewards\/uk-unlimited2-468x60.gif\" width=\"468\" height=\"60\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Unlimited Web Hosting - Kualo\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Words for finger, toe and related things in Celtic languages. Proto-Celtic *makro = finger Old Irish (Go\u00eddelc) m\u00e9r [m\u02b2e\u02d0r] = finger, digit, toe Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg) m\u00e9r, mer, me\u00f3ir, me\u00fair = finger, digit, toe Irish (Gaeilge) m\u00e9ar [m\u02b2e\u02d0\u027e\u02e0] = finger, digit, toe, leg (of crustaceans, mollusks, etc), arm (of a cuttle fish) an mh\u00e9ar thosaigh\/cholbha [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16,26,19,20,44,21,3,36,22,5,6,37,7,27,9,78,10,40,41,12,13,23,82,43,18,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjectives","category-breton","category-kernewek-cornish","category-english","category-etymology","category-french","category-gaeilge-irish","category-language","category-latin","category-gaelg-manx","category-middle-breton","category-middle-cornish","category-middle-irish","category-middle-welsh-kymraec","category-nouns","category-old-cornish","category-old-french-franceis","category-old-irish-goidelc","category-old-welsh","category-parts-of-the-body","category-proto-celtic","category-proto-indo-european","category-gaidhlig-scottish-gaelic","category-spanish-espanol","category-verbs","category-cymraeg-welsh","category-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5657"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8011,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5657\/revisions\/8011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}