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finger [finger 词源字典]: finger: [OE] Widespread among the Germanic languages (German, Swedish, and Danish all have finger, and Dutch vinger), finger is not found in any other branch of Indo-European. It is usually referred to a prehistoric Indo-European ancestor *pengkrós ‘number of five’, a derivative (like fist) of *pengke ‘five’.
=> fist, five[finger etymology, finger origin, 英语词源]
ginger: ginger: [OE] Few foodstuffs can have been as exhaustively etymologized as ginger – Professor Alan Ross, for instance, begetter of the U/non-U distinction, wrote an entire 74-page monograph on the history of the word in 1952. And deservedly so, for its ancestry is extraordinarily complex. Its ultimate source was Sanskrit śrngavēram, a compound formed from śrngam ‘horn’ and vẽra- ‘body’; the term was applied to ‘ginger’ because of the shape of its edible root.

This passed via Prakrit singabēra and Greek ziggíberis into Latin as zinziberi. In postclassical times the Latin form developed to gingiber or gingiver, which Old English borrowed as gingifer. English reborrowed the word in the 13th century from Old French gingivre, which combined with the descendant of the Old English form to produce Middle English gingivere – whence modern English ginger.

Its verbal use, as in ‘ginger up’, appears to come from the practice of putting a piece of ginger into a lazy horse’s anus to make it buck its ideas up.
gingerbread: gingerbread: [13] The idea that gingerbread does not much resemble bread is entirely justified by the word’s history. For originally it was gingebras (a borrowing from Old French), and it meant ‘preserved ginger’. By the mid-14th century, by the process known as folk etymology (the substitution of a more for a less familiar form), -bread had begun to replace -bras, and it was only a matter of time (the early 15th century, apparently) before sense followed form. The expression ‘take the gilt off the gingerbread’ (not recorded before the late 19th century) comes from the fact that formerly gingerbread was often decorated with gold leaf.
gingerly: gingerly: see general
harbinger: harbinger: [12] Originally, a harbinger was simply someone who provided ‘harbour’ – that is, ‘shelter, lodging’. The word began life as a derivative of Old French herberge ‘lodging’, a borrowing from heriberga, the Old Saxon equivalent of Old English herebeorg (whence modern English harbour). English acquired it as herbergere, and the n did not put in an appearance until the 15th century (it was quite a common phenomenon, seen also in messenger and passenger).

As for its meaning, it developed in the 14th century to ‘someone sent on ahead to arrange for lodging for an army, an official royal party, etc’, and from this came the present-day figurative sense ‘forerunner’.
=> harbour
linger: linger: [13] Etymologically, to linger is to remain ‘longer’ than one should. Like its relatives, German längen and Dutch lengen, it goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *langgjan ‘lengthen’. In Old Norse this became lengja, which was borrowed into English in the 10th century as leng. By now, ‘lengthen’ had progressed metaphorically via ‘prolong’ to ‘delay’, which is what it meant when linger was derived from it in the 13th century.
=> long
lingerie: lingerie: see linen
butter-fingered (adj.): "apt to let things fall," 1610s, from butter (n.) + finger (n.).
butterfingers (n.): "person apt to let things fall," 1837; see butter-fingered.
derringer (n.): 1850, for Henry Deringer (1786-1868), U.S. gunsmith who invented it in the 1840s; prevailing misspelled form is how his name appeared on the many counterfeits and imitations. "A small pistol with a large bore, very effective at short range" [OED].
dinger (n.): "something superlative," 1809, American English, agent noun from ding (v.).
finger (n.): "terminal or digital member of the hand" (in a restricted sense not including the thumb), Old English finger, fingor "finger," from Proto-Germanic *fingraz (cognates: Old Saxon fingar, Old Frisian finger, Old Norse fingr, Dutch vinger, German Finger, Gothic figgrs "finger"), with no cognates outside Germanic; perhaps connected with PIE *penkwe-, the root meaning "five."

As a unit of measure for liquor and gunshot (late Old English) it represents the breadth of a finger, about three-quarters of an inch. They generally are numbered from the thumb outward, and named index finger, fool's finger, leech- or physic-finger, and ear-finger.
finger (v.): early 15c., "to touch or point to with the finger" (but see fingering (n.1) from late 14c.), from finger (n.). Sense of "play upon a musical instrument" is from 1510s. Meaning "touch or take thievishly" is from 1520s. The meaning "identify a criminal" is underworld slang first recorded 1930. Related: Fingered; fingering. Compare Dutch vingeren, German fingern, Swedish fingra, all from their respective nouns.
finger-board (n.): of a violin, etc., 1670s, from finger (n.) + board (n.1).
finger-nail (n.): also fingernail, early 13c., from finger (n.) + nail (n.).
finger-tip (n.): also fingertip, 1817, from finger (n.) + tip (n.). Related: Fingertips. To have something at one's fingertips is from 1870.
fingering (n.1): "action or method of using the fingers in playing a musical instrument," late 14c., fyngerynge, noun of action from finger (v.). Mid-15c. as "action of touching lightly."
fingering (n.2): "thick, loose woolen yarn," 1680s, from fingram, from French fin grain, literally "fine grain."
fingerless (adj.): 1822, of gloves, from finger (n.) + -less.
fingerprint (n.): also finger-print, 1834, from finger (n.) + print (n.). Proposed as a means of identification from c. 1892. Admissibility as evidence as valid proof of guilt in murder trials in U.S. upheld in 1912. From 1900 as a verb. Related: Fingerprinted; fingerprinting.
forefinger (n.): mid-15c., from fore- + finger (n.). So called because it is considered the first next to the thumb.
ginger (n.): mid-14c., from Old English gingifer, gingiber, from Late Latin gingiber, from Latin zingiberi, from Greek zingiberis, from Prakrit (Middle Indic) singabera, from Sanskrit srngaveram, from srngam "horn" + vera- "body," so called from the shape of its root. But this may be Sanskrit folk etymology, and the word may be from an ancient Dravidian word that also produced the Malayalam name for the spice, inchi-ver, from inchi "root."

The word apparently was readopted in Middle English from Old French gingibre (12c., Modern French gingembre). In reference to coloring, by 1785 of fighting cocks, 1885 of persons (gingery with reference to hair is from 1852). Meaning "spirit, spunk, temper" is from 1843, American English (see gin (v.1)). Ginger-ale is recorded by 1822, the term adopted by manufacturers to distinguish their product from ginger beer (1809), which was sometimes fermented. Ginger-snap as a type of hard cookie flavored with ginger is from 1855, American English.
gingerbread (n.): late 13c., gingerbrar, "preserved ginger," from Old French ginginbrat "ginger preserve," from Medieval Latin gingimbratus "gingered," from gingiber (see ginger). The ending changed by folk etymology to -brede "bread," a formation attested by mid-14c. Meaning "sweet cake spiced with ginger" is from 15c. Figurative use, indicating anything considered showy and insubstantial, is from c. 1600. Sense of "fussy decoration on a house" is first recorded 1757; gingerbread-work (1748) was a sailor's term for carved decoration on a ship. Gingerbread-man as a confection is from 1850; the rhyme ("The Chase of the Gingerbread Man," by Ella M. White) is from 1898.
gingerly (adv.): "extremely cautiously" (of movements, etc.), c. 1600, earlier "elegantly, daintily" (1510s), of unknown origin. Perhaps [OED] from Old French gensor, comparative of gent "dainty, delicate," from Latin gentius "(well)-born" (see gentle). Meaning "extremely cautiously" is from c. 1600.
gun-slinger (n.): 1916, American English, from gun (n.) + agent noun from sling (v.).
harbinger (n.): late 15c., herbengar "one sent ahead to arrange lodgings" (for a monarch, an army, etc.), alteration of Middle English herberger "provider of shelter, innkeeper" (late 12c.), from Old French herbergeor "one who offers lodging, innkeeper," agent noun from herbergier "provide lodging," from herber "lodging, shelter," from Frankish *heriberga "lodging, inn" (cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German heriberga "army shelter"), from Germanic compound *harja-bergaz "shelter, lodgings," which is also the source of harbor (n.). Sense of "forerunner, that which precedes and gives notice of the coming of another" is mid-16c. Intrusive -n- is 15c. (see messenger). As a verb, from 1640s (harbinge "to lodge" is late 15c.).
humdinger (n.): 1905, American English, originally used of beautiful women; probably from dinger, early 19c. slang word for anything superlative; also see hummer.
light-fingered (adj.): "thievish," 1540s, from light (adj.1) + finger.
linger (v.): c. 1300, lenger "reside, dwell," northern England frequentative of lengen "to tarry," from Old English lengan "prolong, lengthen," from Proto-Germanic *langjan "to make long" (cognates: Old Frisian lendza, Old High German lengan, Dutch lengen "to lengthen"), source of Old English lang (see long (adj.)). Sense of "delay going, depart slowly and unwillingly" is from 1520s. Related: Lingered; lingering.
lingerie (n.): 1835 (but not in widespread use until 1852), from French lingerie "things made of linen," also "laundry room, linen shop" (15c.), from Old French linge "linen" (12c.), from Latin lineus (adj.) "of linen," from linum "flax, linen" (see linen). Originally introduced in English as a euphemism for scandalous under-linen.
malinger (v.): 1820, from French malingrer "to suffer," perhaps also "pretend to be ill," from malingre "ailing, sickly" (13c.), of uncertain origin, possibly a blend of mingre "sickly, miserable" and malade "ill." Mingre is itself a blend of maigre "meager" + haingre "sick, haggard," possibly from Germanic (compare Middle High German hager "thin"). The sense evolution may be through notion of beggars with sham sores. Related: Malingered; malingering; malingerer (1785).
meistersinger (n.): 1845, from German Meistersinger, literally "master singer;" see master (adj.) + singer.
minnesinger (n.): one of a class of medieval German poets who imitated the troubadours, 1825, from German minnesinger, from minne "love," especially "sexual love" (from Old High German minna "loving memory," originally "memory;" see mind (n.)) + singer (see singer). German minne by c. 1500 no longer was considered decent, and it became a taboo word until revived 18c. in poetic language.
porringer (n.): late 15c., alteration of potynger, potager "small dish for stew," from Middle English potage (see pottage) by the same course of changes that produced porridge; and with intrusive -n- by 1530s (compare passenger).
ringer (n.): early 15c., "one who rings" (a bell), agent noun from ring (v.1). In quoits (and by extension, horseshoes) from 1863, from ring (v.2). Especially in be a dead ringer for "resemble closely," 1891, from ringer, a fast horse entered fraudulently in a race in place of a slow one (the verb to ring in this sense is attested from 1812), possibly from British ring in "substitute, exchange," via ring the changes, "substitute counterfeit money for good," a pun on ring the changes in the sense of play the regular series of variations in a peal of bells (1610s). Meaning "expert" is first recorded 1918, Australian slang, from earlier meaning "man who shears the most sheep per day" (1871).
singer (n.): early 14c. (mid-13c. as a surname), agent noun from sing (v.). Old English had songer "psalm-writer," sangere "singer, poet" (also see songster).
slinger (n.): "soldier armed with a sling," late 14c., agent noun from sling (v.).
springer (n.): "one who or that which leaps," mid-14c. (late 12c. as a surname), agent noun from spring (v.). As a type of spaniel, 1808, so called from being used originally to rouse (that is, to "spring") game.
stinger (n.): 1550s, agent noun from sting (v.). As an animal part, from 1889; earlier in this sense was sting (n.).
stringer (n.): early 15c., "one who makes bow-strings," agent noun from string (v.). Meaning "newspaper correspondent paid by length of copy" is from 1950, probably from earlier figurative sense of "one who strings words together" (1774).
swinger (n.): 1540s, "one who or that which swings," agent noun from swing (v.). Also (now obsolete) "anything big or great" (1580s). Meaning "person who is sexually promiscuous" is from 1964. Old English swingere (n.) meant "one who strikes, scourger."
wharfinger (n.): "operator or manager of a wharf," 1550s, from wharfage "provision or accomodation at wharves" (mid-15c.), from wharf + agent noun suffix -er (1) + intrusive -n- as in messenger.
wringer (n.): "device for squeezing water from clothes," 1799, agent noun from wring (v.). (Earlier it meant "extortioner," c. 1300.) Figurative phrase to put (someone) through the wringer first recorded 1942, American English.
zinger (n.): "cruel quip," 1970, from zing + -er (1). Earlier it was baseball slang for "fastball" (by 1957).
minger: "An unattractive or unpleasant person or thing", 1990s: from minging.
fingerling: "A salmon parr", Early 18th century: from finger (with reference to its transverse dusky bars) + -ling.