Pinkie Comes From the Dutch for Little Finger
The pinkie is the little finger. The word came into English from Dutch, and Scotland uses it too.
The pinkie is the little finger. The word came from Dutch *pink*, meaning the little finger, and entered English through Scots and American English. Britain more often says *little finger*. Despite appearances it has nothing to do with the colour pink, which is named after the pink flower.
- The little finger. *A broken pinkie.*
- Pinky — an alternative spelling. *His pinky finger.*
- Pinkie promise — a promise sealed by linking fingers. *A pinkie promise.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | pinkie | A sore pinkie. |
| Variant | pinky | Her pinky. |
| Plural | pinkies | Both pinkies. |
| Dutch | pink | Dutch *pink*. |
| British | little finger | The little finger. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Pinkie comes from Dutch.Not from the colour.
- Britain says little finger.Pinkie is Scots and American.
- The colour is named after a flower.The pink, a type of dianthus.
The colour pink
- The flower first — pinks are dianthus species
- Pinked edges — the flower's petals look cut with pinking shears
- Pinking shears — cut a zigzag edge, from the same verb
- In the pink — in good health, from the flower as a paragon
- Colour name — recorded from the seventeenth century, later than the flower
From Dutch *pink*, the little finger. The colour comes separately from the pink, a garden flower.
Is pinkie related to the colour?
No. The finger comes from Dutch, the colour from the name of a flower with fringed petals.
Why are they called pinking shears?
From an old verb *pink*, meaning to pierce or cut a decorative edge, which also named the flower for its fringed petals.