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Where does the word "digit" come from? It comes from Latin digitus, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "digit" come from? It comes from Latin digitus, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).
Digit’s story begins in Latin: digitus meant “finger, toe.” Numbers were counted on the fingers. It reached English by 1400s as digit. 'digital' computers date from the 1940s. Today, digit means a numeral from 0 to 9; a finger.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient digitus "finger, toe", numbers were counted on the fingers.
- Stage 2 · English · 1400s digit "numeral", 'digital' computers date from the 1940s.