finger pointing at the moon
finger pointing at the moon noun: something serving to indicate, as opposed to the thing being indicated.
Noun
finger pointing at the moon (plural fingers pointing at the moon)
- Something serving to indicate, as opposed to the thing being indicated.
- In the Eastern religions we are reminded that a symbol is a finger pointing at the moon and should not be mistaken for the moon, but nevertheless the pointing finger enables us to look in the right direction.2011, David Fontana, Is Christianity Good for You?, page 178
- The map, the words, the moral rules are but fingers pointing at the moon of experience. Understand the finger for what it is, and look beyond it to the source and meaning of it all.2012, Robert E. Carter, Encounter with Enlightenment: A Study of Japanese Ethics, page 108
Forms of finger pointing at the moon
| plural | fingers pointing at the moon |
|---|
Origin of finger pointing at the moon
From Buddhism.
Questions about finger pointing at the moon
- What does finger pointing at the moon mean?
- Finger pointing at the moon means something serving to indicate, as opposed to the thing being indicated.
- What part of speech is finger pointing at the moon?
- Finger pointing at the moon is a noun.
- What is the plural of finger pointing at the moon?
- The plural of finger pointing at the moon is fingers pointing at the moon.
Words near finger pointing at the moon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: finger pointing at the moon (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “finger pointing at the moon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/finger_pointing_at_the_moon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.