Definify.com

Definition 2024


無名指

無名指

See also: 无名指

Chinese

anonymous; nameless
 
finger; to point; to direct; to indicate
trad. (無名指) 無名
simp. (无名指) 无名
Literally: “unnamed finger”.

Noun

無名指

  1. ring finger

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term

Grade: 4
めい
Grade: 1

Grade: 3
on'yomi

Borrowing from Middle Chinese 無名指 (/mɨo miᴇŋ t͡ɕˠiɪX/, literally no, without + name + finger). Compare modern Cantonese reading mou4 ming4 zi2, Hakka mò-miàng-chí.

Pronunciation

Noun

無名指 (hiragana むめいし, romaji mumeishi)

  1. Synonym of 薬指: ring finger

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
Grade: 4 Grade: 1 ゆび
Grade: 3
Irregular

Calque of Middle Chinese 無名指 (unnamed finger), swapping the readings of the first two kanji to match Japanese word order.

This reading is more commonly spelled 名無し指.

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

Noun

無名指 (hiragana ななしゆび, romaji nanashiyubi)

  1. Synonym of 薬指: ring finger

References

  1. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9