Fingerprint

How to spell fingerprint

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce fingerprint

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does fingerprint mean?

1. nounThe unique pattern of ridges left by the skin of a fingertip, used for identification.
2. verbTo record someone's fingerprints, typically for official or security purposes.

Fingerprint in a sentence

• noun

  Detectives lifted a clear fingerprint from the door handle.

• verb

  The agency will fingerprint every new employee before issuing a badge.

• noun

  The new phone unlocks with a single fingerprint on the sensor.

• verb

  Officers must fingerprint each suspect during booking.

Where does fingerprint come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound built from two native Germanic words: 'finger', which comes from Old English 'finger' and traces back to the Proto-Germanic 'fingraz', and 'print', which arrived later from Old French 'preinte', meaning an impression or mark left by pressure, itself from the Latin 'premere', 'to press'. So the second half is ultimately Latin by way of French, while the first half is purely Old English. The word in its modern sense, the unique ridge pattern left by the skin of a fingertip, became common only in the late nineteenth century, when forensic scientists such as Francis Galton and Edward Henry showed that these patterns were unique to each person and useful for identification. Before that, 'finger print' simply described any mark a finger happened to leave. The spelling is reliably regular, since both halves are familiar everyday words joined without any change.

How the word is built

• finger (the digit)
• print (a mark left by pressure)