From Proto-Germanic*funstiz, from Proto-Indo-European*pnsti-, a variant of *pnksti-, *pn̥kʷ-sti(“fist”), a derivative of *pénkʷe(“five”). Cognate with Old Frisian fest (West Frisian fest), Old Saxon fūst, Dutch vuist, Old High German fūst (German Faust), and with Russian пясть ‘palm of the hand’, Polish pięść ‘fist’, Serbian pest 'fist' and prst 'finger', Lithuanian kumštis.