Digital
/ˈdɪdʒɪtəl/noun
Relating to fingers, numbers, or electronic technology that encodes information as discrete values.
Did you know?Digital comes from Latin digitus, meaning “finger” or “toe,” because ancient counting was done on the body long before it became the language of computers.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*deyḱ-
“to show or point out”
Latin
Latin
digitus
“finger; toe”
Late Latin
Latin
digitalis
“of a finger or toe”
15th Century
English
digital
“pertaining to fingers or toes”
20th Century
English
digital
“using discrete numerical signals; electronic”