fingerprint
Americannoun
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an impression of the markings of the inner surface of the last joint of the thumb or other finger.
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such an impression made with ink for purposes of identification.
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any unique or distinctive pattern that presents unambiguous evidence of a specific person, substance, disease, etc.
verb (used with object)
noun
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an impression of the pattern of ridges on the palmar surface of the end joint of each finger and thumb
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any identifying characteristic
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biochem the pattern of fragments obtained when a protein is digested by a proteolytic enzyme, usually observed following two-dimensional separation by chromatography and electrophoresis
verb
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(tr) to take an inked impression of the fingerprints of (a person)
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to take a sample of (a person's) DNA
Discover More
Fingerprinting is used extensively in criminal investigation, but it is also used as a means of identification by many organizations.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fingerprintsimple
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fingerprintssimple
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have fingerprintedperfect
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has fingerprintedperfect
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am fingerprintingprogressive
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are fingerprintingprogressive
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is fingerprintingprogressive
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have been fingerprintingperfect progressive
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has been fingerprintingperfect progressive
Past
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fingerprintedsimple
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had fingerprintedperfect
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was fingerprintingprogressive
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were fingerprintingprogressive
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had been fingerprintingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fingerprint
Explanation
The impression or mark that your finger makes on a surface is a fingerprint. And the one-of-a-kind pattern of raised whorls and lines on your fingertip? That's also a fingerprint. The earliest attempts to identify people using the prints their fingers made were in the 1820s, and by 1834 the word fingerprint came into use. To fingerprint someone is to press their finger into a pad of ink and then onto paper; after an arrest, the resulting fingerprints are put on file. The pattern on a person's fingertip is nearly unique, distinct, and won't change during their lifetime, making it a useful way to confirm someone's identity.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Tracing its source poses particular difficulties for two reasons: an incubation period of up to two weeks before symptoms first appear, and lack of a genetic fingerprint, unlike, say, E. coli.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
Every humpback has a pattern on the underside of their tail -- or fluke -- that is unique "like a human fingerprint", Castro said.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
He prays for her before each game, looking up to the sky while grasping his wife’s necklace, then kissing a ring that has her fingerprint tattooed on it.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Scientists use deuterium levels as a kind of chemical fingerprint that reveals the conditions present when celestial objects formed.
From Science Daily ● May 8, 2026
Agents were increasingly trained in what Hoover hailed as “scientific policing,” such as fingerprint and ballistics techniques.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
“His fingerprints are everywhere in this industry. His impact extends far beyond the performances we see on screen — it’s woven into the very fabric of Hollywood.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The team plans to search for molecular fingerprints of this process in both surface and deep waters during a future expedition to the Arctic aboard the German research vessel Polarstern.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
UK travellers have to register fingerprints and a photo when you scan their passport as part of the Entry/Exit System, or EES.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Other tests that could eventually be conducted on the purported will include handwriting analysis of the signatures as well as fingerprints and DNA scans of the document.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
“I’ll bet he didn’t touch the glass. Are his fingerprints on it?”
From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg
Asylum seekers are fingerprinted on arrival in the UK and checked against UK police databases, but these would not necessarily show a conviction from another country.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
As a teenager, she applied to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, paid her fee and was fingerprinted for a background check.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Because Cynthia’s white Fiero had been released to Gonzalez before it could be properly fingerprinted, police said it wasn’t useful to the case either.
From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2026
From Sunday, non-EU travellers entering Europe's Schengen open-borders zone will be photographed and fingerprinted at border crossings, as the European Union rolls out its much-delayed automated border checks.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2025
“Apparently they do have them. Bunny was in the Boy Scouts and his troop went in and was fingerprinted for some kind of Law Enforcement badge, years ago. They’re still on file somewhere.”
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Most states need to send cyclospora specimens to the CDC for genetic fingerprinting because their own public-health laboratories can’t do it, Williams said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Because the countries had no official diplomatic ties, it took months of negotiations to arrange that game, and the Iranians required special fingerprinting and security exemptions at the airport.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
Chemical fingerprinting indicates that microbial sources, including wetlands, inland waters, reservoirs, and agriculture, were responsible for most of the observed changes.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 10, 2026
Mahmood said there is "always concern" when a new technology is adopted, adding this previously applied to the use of fingerprinting and DNA samples.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026
This technique—the use of fingerprinting to identify a person—was brand-new.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
