Finger (unit)

A finger (sometimes fingerbreadth or finger's breadth) is any of several units of measurement that are approximately the width of an adult human finger, including:

Some hand-based measurements, including the finger (5)

The digit, also known as digitus or digitus transversus (Latin), dactyl (Greek) or dactylus, or finger's breadth — ​3⁄4 of an inch or ​1⁄16 of a foot.[1][2]

In medicine and related disciplines (anatomy, radiology, etc.) the fingerbreadth (literally the width of a finger) is an informal but widely used unit of measure.[3][4]

In the measurement of distilled spirits, a finger of whiskey refers to the amount of whiskey that would fill a glass to the level of one finger wrapped around the glass at the bottom.[5][6][7]

Another definition (from Noah Webster): "nearly an inch."[8][9]

Finger is also the name of a longer unit of length used in cloth measurement, specifically, one eighth of a yard or 4​1⁄2 inches.[8][10]

In English these units have mostly fallen out of use, apart from the common use in distilled drinks and drinking games.

See also

References
  1. Noah Webster; John Walker (1830). American dictionary of the English language. digit: Converse. p. 247. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  2. Ronald Edward Zupko (1985). A dictionary of weights and measures for the British Isles: the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. American Philosophical Society. pp. 109–10. ISBN 978-0-87169-168-2. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  3. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences. Charles B. Slack. 1839. p. 363. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  4. David V. Skinner (28 April 1997). Cambridge textbook of accident and emergency medicine. Cambridge University Press. p. 1209. ISBN 978-0-521-43379-2. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  5. University chronicle. 1858. p. 187. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  6. Bret Harte (1899). "A Jack and Jill of the Sierras". McClure's magazine. S.S. McClure Co. p. 230. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  7. Harvard Student Agencies, Inc.; Harvard Student Agencies (15 January 2000). The official Harvard Student Agencies bartending course. Macmillan. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-312-25286-1. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  8. Noah Webster (1896). Webster's collegiate dictionary. G. & C. Merriam. p. 332. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  9. William Markham (1739). A general introduction to trade and business: or, The young merchant's and tradesman's magazine ... A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch. p. 104. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  10. The Encyclopedia Americana. Encyclopedia Americana Corp. 1920. p. 165. Retrieved 14 January 2012.


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