Meanings
nounforefinger (plural forefingers)
plural forefingers
- human anatomyThe index finger: the first finger next to the thumb.
He touched me on the arm with his forefinger twice or thrice giving a ghastly nod each time:- […]
1866, Charles Dickens, The Signal-ManSynonyms: index finger
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe index finger: the first finger next to the thumb.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishforefynger
- Englishforefinger
Mid-15th century, from Middle English forefynger; equivalent to fore- + finger.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans wysvinger
- wysvingerfirst finger next to the thumb
Arabic سَبَّابَة
- سَبَّابَة (sabbāba)first finger next to the thumb
Basque hatz erakusle
- hatz erakuslefirst finger next to the thumb
Bengali শাহাদাত আঙ্গুল
- শাহাদাত আঙ্গুল (śahadat aṅgul)first finger next to the thumb
Bulgarian показа́лец
- показа́лец (pokazálec)first finger next to the thumb
Catalan índex
- índexfirst finger next to the thumb
Chinese Cantonese 食指
- 食指 (sik⁶ zi²)first finger next to the thumb
Chinese Mandarin 食指, 二拇指
- 食指 (shízhǐ)first finger next to the thumb
- 二拇指 (èrmǔzhǐ)first finger next to the thumb
- 二指 (èrzhǐ)first finger next to the thumb
- 示指 (shìzhǐ)first finger next to the thumb
- 二拇哥 (èrmǔgē)first finger next to the thumb
Czech ukazovák, ukazováček
- ukazovákfirst finger next to the thumb
- ukazováčekfirst finger next to the thumb
Danish pegefinger
- pegefingerfirst finger next to the thumb
Dutch wijsvinger
- wijsvingerfirst finger next to the thumb
Esperanto montra fingro, montrofingro
- montra fingrofirst finger next to the thumb
- montrofingrofirst finger next to the thumb
Estonian nimetissõrm
- nimetissõrmfirst finger next to the thumb
Finnish etusormi
- etusormifirst finger next to the thumb
French index
- indexfirst finger next to the thumb
German Zeigefinger
- Zeigefingerfirst finger next to the thumb
Greek δείκτης, λιχανός
- δείκτης (deíktis)first finger next to the thumb
- λιχανός (lichanós)first finger next to the thumb
Hebrew אצבע מורה
- אצבע מורה (étzba moré)first finger next to the thumb
Hindi देशिनी, तर्जनी अँगुली
- देशिनी (deśinī)first finger next to the thumb
- तर्जनी अँगुली (tarjanī aṅgulī)first finger next to the thumb
- तर्जनी (tarjanī)first finger next to the thumb
Hungarian mutatóujj
- mutatóujjfirst finger next to the thumb
Icelandic vísifingur, sleikifingur
- vísifingurfirst finger next to the thumb
- sleikifingurfirst finger next to the thumb
- bendifingurfirst finger next to the thumb
- vísiputtifirst finger next to the thumb
Indonesian jari telunjuk, tarjani
- jari telunjukfirst finger next to the thumb
- tarjanifirst finger next to the thumb
Italian indice, dito indice
- indicefirst finger next to the thumb
- dito indicefirst finger next to the thumb
Japanese 人差し指, 食指
- 人差し指 (hitosashiyubi)first finger next to the thumb
- 食指 (shokushi)first finger next to the thumb
Korean 검지, 집게손가락
- 검지 (geomji)first finger next to the thumb
- 집게손가락 (jipgeson'garak)first finger next to the thumb
- 인지 (inji)first finger next to the thumb
Latin index, digitus salūtāris
- indexfirst finger next to the thumb
- digitus salūtārisfirst finger next to the thumb
Latvian rādītājpirksts
- rādītājpirkstsfirst finger next to the thumb
Malay jari telunjuk
- jari telunjukfirst finger next to the thumb
Māori kōroa, takoroa
- kōroafirst finger next to the thumb
- takoroafirst finger next to the thumb
- takonuifirst finger next to the thumb
Norwegian Bokmål pekefinger
- pekefingerfirst finger next to the thumb
Polish palec wskazujący
- palec wskazującyfirst finger next to the thumb
Portuguese dedo indicador, indicador
- dedo indicadorfirst finger next to the thumb
- indicadorfirst finger next to the thumb
- índicefirst finger next to the thumb
- dedo índexfirst finger next to the thumb
- índexfirst finger next to the thumb
Romanian deget arătător, arătător
- deget arătătorfirst finger next to the thumb
- arătătorfirst finger next to the thumb
Russian указа́тельный па́лец
- указа́тельный па́лец (ukazátelʹnyj pálec)first finger next to the thumb
Scottish Gaelic corrag, sgealbag
- corragfirst finger next to the thumb
- sgealbagfirst finger next to the thumb
- sgealbfirst finger next to the thumb
- colgagfirst finger next to the thumb
- meuragfirst finger next to the thumb
- meur-meomhairfirst finger next to the thumb
- sgolgagfirst finger next to the thumb
Slovak ukazovák
- ukazovákfirst finger next to the thumb
Spanish dedo saludador, dedo mostrador
- dedo saludadorfirst finger next to the thumb
- dedo mostradorfirst finger next to the thumb
- lameplatosfirst finger next to the thumb
Swahili kidole cha shahada
- kidole cha shahadafirst finger next to the thumb
Swedish pekfinger
- pekfingerfirst finger next to the thumb
Tagalog hintuturo
- hintuturofirst finger next to the thumb
Tamil சுட்டுவிரல், ஆட்காட்டி
- சுட்டுவிரல் (cuṭṭuviral)first finger next to the thumb
- ஆட்காட்டி (āṭkāṭṭi)first finger next to the thumb
- ஆள்காட்டி விரல் (āḷkāṭṭi viral)first finger next to the thumb
- சுட்டாமுட்டி (cuṭṭāmuṭṭi)first finger next to the thumb
Thai นิ้วชี้
- นิ้วชี้ (níu-chíi)first finger next to the thumb
Turkish işaret parmağı
- işaret parmağıfirst finger next to the thumb
Ukrainian вказі́вний па́лець
- вказі́вний па́лець (vkazívnyj pálecʹ)first finger next to the thumb
Vietnamese ngón tay trỏ
- ngón tay trỏfirst finger next to the thumb
Welsh mynegfys
- mynegfysfirst finger next to the thumb
Cite this entry
APA
forefinger. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forefinger
MLA
“forefinger.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forefinger. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forefinger,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forefinger.
Source: forefinger on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.