FINGR
nafnorðkarlkyn
m., gen. fingrar, mod. fingrs; dat. fingri; pl. fingr; a neut. fingr occurs in O. H. L. 73, 74, which gender is still found in Swed. dialects; the acc. pl. is in conversation used as fem., an Icel. says allar fingr, not alla fingr: [Goth. figgrs; A. S. finger, etc.; whereas Lat. digitus and Gr. δάκτυλος etymologically answer to Icel. tá, Engl. toe, Germ. zehe, a finger of the foot]:—a finger, Grág. i. 498, Hkr. ii. 380, 384, Magn. 518, passim: the names of the fingers—þumal-fingr, the thumb; vísi-f., the index finger, also called sleiki-f., lick-finger; langa-töng, long-prong; græði-f., leech-finger, also, but rarely, called baug-f., digitus annuli; litli-f., the little finger. Sayings or phrases:—playing with one’s fingers is a mark of joy or happiness—leika fingrum (Rm. 24), or leika við fingr sér (sína), Fms. iv. 167, 172, vii. 172, Orkn. 324, mod. leika við hvern sinn fingr; also spila fingra, id., Fbr. 198; vita e-ð upp á sinar tíu fingr, to know a thing on one’s ten fingers, i. e. have at one’s fingers’ ends; fetta fingr útí e-t, to find fault with; rétta e-m fingr, digito monstrare, Grett. 117; sjá ekki fingra sinna skil, not to be able to distinguish one’s fingers, of blindness, Bs. i. 118: other phrases are rare and of foreign origin, e. g. sjá í gegnum fingr við e-n, to shut one’s eyes to a thing, etc.; fingr digrir, thick fingers, of a clown, Rm. 8; but mjó-fingraðr, taper-fingered, epithet of a lady, 36; fingra-mjúkr, nimble-fingered; fingrar-þykkr, a finger thick, Al. 165; fingrar gómr, a finger’s end, Fs. 62; fingra staðr, the print of the fingers, Symb. 59; fingrar breidd, a finger’s breadth. In the Norse law (N. G. L. i. 172) the fingers are taxed, from the thumb at twelve ounces, to the little finger at one ounce—not so in the curious lawsuit recorded in Sturl. i. ch. 18–27. Also a measure, a finger’s breadth, Nj. 27, cp. MS. 732. 5: arithm. any number under ten, Alg. 362: botan., skolla-fingr, a kind of fern, lycopodium. fingra-járn, n. a ‘finger-iron,’ a thimble (?), Dipl. v. 18. fingr-hæð, f. a finger’s height, as measure.