Standard Lemma guide

fingerprint

noun · verb · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈfɪŋɡɚˌpɹɪnt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F IH1 NG G ER0 P R IH2 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The natural pattern of ridges on the tips of human fingers, unique to each individual.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The pattern left on a surface where an uncovered fingertip has touched, especially as used to identify the person who touched the surface.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: finger impression

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A unique combination of features that serves as an identification of something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Examples

  • acoustic fingerprint

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A unique identification for a public key in asymmetric cryptography.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, cryptography, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A trace that gives evidence of someone's involvement.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To take somebody's fingerprints.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • The jail staff fingerprints its inmates routinely

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To identify something uniquely by a combination of measurements.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

a smudge made by a (dirty) finger

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fingermark

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: smudge, spot, blot, daub, smear, smirch, slur

9

noun

Meaning 9

a print made by an impression of the ridges in the skin of a finger; often used for biometric identification in criminal investigations

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: biometric identification, biometric authentication, identity verification, mark, print

Narrower terms: loop, thumbprint

10

noun

Meaning 10

a generic term for any identifying characteristic

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • that tax bill had the senator's fingerprints all over it

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: identification

11

verb

Meaning 11

take an impression of a person's fingerprints

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: reproduce

History

Etymology

From finger + print.

Across languages

Translations

117 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بَصْمَة (baṣma) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Armenian: մատնահետք (matnahetkʻ) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Belarusian: адбі́так (adbítak) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Bulgarian: пръстов отпечатък (prǎstov otpečatǎk) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Catalan: empremta — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Chinese Mandarin: 指紋 /指纹 (zhǐwén) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Czech: otisk prstu — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Esperanto: fingrospuro — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Faroese: fingramerki — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Finnish: sormenjälki — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • French: empreinte digitale — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Galician: dedada — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Galician: pegada dixital — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • German: Fingerabdruck — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Greek: δακτυλικό αποτύπωμα (daktylikó apotýpoma) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Hungarian: ujjlenyomat — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Icelandic: fingrafar — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Irish: méarlorg — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Italian: impronta digitale — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Japanese: 指紋 (shimon) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Korean: 지문 (jimun) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Kyrgyz: бармак тагы (barmak tagı) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Lithuanian: pirštų atspaudas — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Malay: cap jari — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Māori: makaurangi — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Māori: tapukara — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Norwegian: fingeravtrykk — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Occitan: detada — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Occitan: emprenta digitala — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Polish: odcisk palca — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Portuguese: impressão digital — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Romanian: amprentă digitală — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Russian: отпеча́ток па́льца (otpečátok pálʹca) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Russian: отпеча́ток (otpečátok) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Scottish Gaelic: meur-lorg — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Spanish: huella digital — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Spanish: huella dactilar — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Swahili: alama ya kidole — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Swedish: fingeravtryck — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Tagalog: tatak ng daliri — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Tagalog: diit — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Tagalog: bakas-daliri — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Tagalog: tatak-daliri — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Tamil: கைரேகை (kairēkai) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Thai: ลายนิ้วมือ (laai-níu-mʉʉ) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Turkish: parmak izi — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Ukrainian: відби́ток (vidbýtok) — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Vietnamese: vân tay — the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers
  • Afrikaans: vingerafdruk — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Arabic: بَصْمَة (baṣma) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Armenian: մատնահետք (matnahetkʻ) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Bulgarian: отпечатъци от пръсти (otpečatǎci ot prǎsti) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Chinese Mandarin: 指紋 /指纹 (zhǐwén) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Chinese Mandarin: 指印 (zhǐyìn) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Czech: otisk prstu — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Danish: fingeraftryk — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Dutch: vingerafdruk — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Finnish: sormenjälki — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • French: empreinte digitale — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Galician: pegada dixital — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • German: Fingerabdruck — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Greek: δακτυλικό αποτύπωμα (daktylikó apotýpoma) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Hungarian: ujjlenyomat — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Irish: méarlorg — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Italian: impronta digitale — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Japanese: 指紋 (shimon) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Korean: 지문 (jimun) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Kyrgyz: бармак тагы (barmak tagı) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Lithuanian: pirštų atspaudas — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Malay: cap jari — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Māori: makaurangi — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Māori: tapukara — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fingeravtrykk — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fingeravtrykk — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Occitan: detada — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Polish: odcisk palca — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Portuguese: impressão digital — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Romanian: amprentă digitală — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Russian: отпеча́ток па́льца (otpečátok pálʹca) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Russian: отпеча́тки па́льцев (otpečátki pálʹcev) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Russian: отпеча́ток (otpečátok) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Scottish Gaelic: meur-lorg — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Spanish: huella digital — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Spanish: huella dactilar — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Swahili: alama ya kidole — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Swedish: fingeravtryck — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Thai: ลายนิ้วมือ (laai-níu-mʉʉ) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Turkish: parmak izi — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Vietnamese: dấu vân tay — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Welsh: ôl bys (nontechincal) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Welsh: bysbrint (techincal) — the patterns left on surfaces where fingertips have touched
  • Arabic: بَصْمَة (baṣma) — unique identification for public key in asymmetric cryptosystem
  • Chinese Mandarin: 指紋碼 /指纹码 (zhǐwénmǎ) — unique identification for public key in asymmetric cryptosystem
  • Czech: otisk — unique identification for public key in asymmetric cryptosystem
  • Czech: miniatura — unique identification for public key in asymmetric cryptosystem
  • Danish: digitalt fingeraftryk — unique identification for public key in asymmetric cryptosystem
  • Dutch: digitale vingerafdruk — unique identification for public key in asymmetric cryptosystem
  • Finnish: tunniste — unique identification for public key in asymmetric cryptosystem
  • Greek: ψηφιακό αποτύπωμα (psifiakó apotýpoma) — unique identification for public key in asymmetric cryptosystem
  • Polish: odcisk palca — unique identification for public key in asymmetric cryptosystem
  • Spanish: huella digital — unique identification for public key in asymmetric cryptosystem
  • Bulgarian: взимам отпечатъци (vzimam otpečatǎci) — to take fingerprints
  • Bulgarian: вземам отпечатъци (vzemam otpečatǎci) — to take fingerprints
  • Bulgarian: взима отпечатъци (vzima otpečatǎci) — to take fingerprints
  • Dutch: vingerafdrukken nemen — to take fingerprints
  • Dutch: vingerafdrukken maken — to take fingerprints
  • Finnish: ottaa sormenjäljet — to take fingerprints
  • German: Fingerabdruck nehmen — to take fingerprints
  • German: Fingerabdruck machen — to take fingerprints
  • German: daktyloskopieren — to take fingerprints
  • Greek: δακτυλοσκοπώ (daktyloskopó) — to take fingerprints
  • Portuguese: tirar as digitais — to take fingerprints
  • Russian: дактилоскопи́ровать (daktiloskopírovatʹ) — to take fingerprints
  • Russian: снима́ть отпеча́тки па́льцев (snimátʹ otpečátki pálʹcev) — to take fingerprints
  • Spanish: tomarle las huellas dactilares — to take fingerprints
  • Swedish: ta fingeravtryck på (någon) — to take fingerprints
  • Swedish: ta någons fingeravtryck — to take fingerprints
Real reading context

fingerprint in complete knowledge articles