pollex

English

Etymology

Borrowed fromLatinpollex.

Noun

pollex(pluralpollices)

1. Thethumb;thefirst,orpreaxial,digitof theforelimb,corresponding to thehalluxin thehindlimb.In birds, the pollex is thejointwhich bears thealulaorbastard wing.
   • 1955,Vladimir Nabokov,Lolita:

     We came to know the curious roadside species, Hitchhiking Man,Homopollexof science, with all its many sub-species and forms.

Derived terms

• pollical
• pollicate

See also

• hallux

References

• “pollex”,inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary,Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.

Latin

Etymology

Of uncertain origin.

Traditionally connected toProto-Slavic*palьcь(“thumb”),with contamination fromLatinpolleō(“to be strong”)(hencepollex,not*pōlex). However, de Vaan is unconvinced, and instead prefersMeier-Brügger's derivation from aProto-Italic*por-likʰ-s(“which is licked over”),fromProto-Indo-European*per-(“through”)+*leyǵʰ-(“to lick”),with the second syllable in the nominative singular becoming-lexbased on the model of other body parts, such asvortex(“whirl; top of the head”)inflecting with-ex.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin)IPA^(key):/ˈpol.leks/,[ˈpɔlːʲɛks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)IPA^(key):/ˈpol.leks/,[ˈpɔlːeks]

Noun

pollexm(genitivepollicis);third declension

1. thumb
2. greattoe
3. aunitofdistance,equivalenttoapproximately24.6mm;oneuncia(see also:Ancient Roman units of measurement)
4. seal(insignia)

Declension

Third-declensionnoun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pollex	pollicēs
Genitive	pollicis	pollicum
Dative	pollicī	pollicibus
Accusative	pollicem	pollicēs
Ablative	pollice	pollicibus
Vocative	pollex	pollicēs

Derived terms

• pollicāris
• *pollicāta

Descendants

• Catalan:polze
• French:pouce⇒poucier
  • →Sicilian:puseri
• Italian:pollice
• Occitan:poce
• Piedmontese:pòle
• Romansch:polesch,polisch,polsch
• Sardinian:póddiche,póddighe(“finger”)
• →Czech:pólech
• →English:pollex⇒pollical
• →Esperanto:polekso
• →Greek:πόλεξ(pólex)
• →Portuguese:pólex,pólice
• →Romanian:police
• →Spanish:pólice

References

• “pollex”,inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879)A Latin Dictionary,Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “pollex”,inCharlton T. Lewis (1891)An Elementary Latin Dictionary,New York: Harper & Brothers
• pollexin Charles du Fresne du Cange’sGlossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis(augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “pollex”,inWilliam Smith, editor (1848),A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,London: John Murray
• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm(1911) “pŏllen”, inRomanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch(in German),page497