pollex

American  

[pol-eks] / ˈpɒl ɛks /

noun

• pollices
  plural

1. the innermost digit of the forelimb; thumb.

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pollex British  

/ ˈpɒlɛks /

noun

1. the first digit of the forelimb of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, such as the thumb of man and other primates

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pollical
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pollices
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of pollex

Borrowed into English from Latin around 1825–35

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pollex

There are no nuptial tuberosities on the pollex of breeding males.

From A Distributional Study of the Amphibians of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico by William E. Duellman

The pollex and the third finger are as a rule reduced to one phalanx each, while the index still has two.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various

A pollex is wanting, as in the cassowary, emeu and apteryx, while it is impossible to say whether remiges are represented or not.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various

Thus, we have a nail; pollex, pouce, pulgada, Swedish tum, for an inch; which word has been misapplied by our Saxon predecessors, and corrupted from the Latin uncia, which related only to weight.

From Sound Mind or, Contributions to the natural history and physiology of the human intellect by John Haslam

Masculine: apex, peak; cōdex, tree-trunk; grex, flock; imbrex, tile; pollex, thumb; vertex, summit; calix, cup.

From New Latin Grammar by Charles E. (Charles Edwin) Bennett

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