fingerprint

/ˈfɪŋɡɚˌpɹɪnt/

fingerprint noun: the natural pattern of ridges on the tips of human fingers, unique to each individual.

Image: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

fingerprint (plural fingerprints)

The natural pattern of ridges on the tips of human fingers, unique to each individual.
The pattern left on a surface where an uncovered fingertip has touched, especially as used to identify the person who touched the surface.
- Nervously, he wiped the gun of fingerprints real and imaginary with the stocking-covered fingers.1974, Patricia Highsmith, chapter 7, in Ripley's Game
- The crime scene investigator has the responsibility of collecting latent fingerprints.2012, Christopher C. Harmon, Criminal Investigation, →ISBN, page 108
Synonyms:

finger impression
(broadly) A unique combination of features that serves as an identification of something.
- acoustic fingerprint
- Most pharmacopoeial monographs of medicinal plants include TLC as method for identification based on a chromatographic fingerprint, which consists of a sequence of characteristic substance zones.2008, Monika Waksmundzka-Hajnos, Joseph Sherma, Teresa Kowalska, Thin Layer Chromatography in Phytochemistry, →ISBN, page 40
A unique identification for a public key in asymmetric cryptography.
(figuratively) A trace that gives evidence of someone's involvement.
- And continue to ask yourself the question, could the incredible complexity of the human body with its multitudinous specialized functions have come into being completely by chance or is it another fingerprint of God?1999, Arvin S. Gibson, Fingerprints of God, →ISBN, page 141

Verb

fingerprint (third-person singular simple present fingerprints, present participle fingerprinting, simple past and past participle fingerprinted)

(transitive) To take somebody's fingerprints.
- The jail staff fingerprints its inmates routinely
- Too often, the union says, farmers feel the police response is inadequate and the sentencing too lenient. It’s a view seemingly shared by one of the latest victims of bee rustling, Norfolk bee keeper Simon Greenwood, who told the Observer that police had taken some photos of the scene...2017 September 23, “From north Wales to Norfolk, distraught beekeepers ask: who’s stealing our hives?”, in The Observer
(transitive) To identify something uniquely by a combination of measurements.
- Analytical results from this combination of leach tests are tools that allow the investigator to quantify (fingerprint) which geochemical components could be expected in runoff from these piles if they were leached by a cloudburst...2004, Philip L. Hageman, Use of Short-Term (5-Minute) and Long-Term (18-Hour) Leaching Tests to Characterize, Fingerprint, and Rank Mine-Waste Material from Historical Mines in the Deer Creek, Snake...
- A significant disadvantage of DNA fingerprinting that excludes conventional methods of population genetic analysis is an absence of genetic interpretation of hybridization fragment origin.2006, Marina May Read, Focus on DNA Fingerprinting Research, →ISBN, page 30

fingerprint meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

fingerprint in Hindi

फिंगरप्रिंट, फ़िंगरप्रिंट, उंगलियों की छाप

fingerprint in Tamil

the pattern of ridges on the tips of the fingers: கைரேகை kairēkai

fingerprint in Marathi

फिंगरप्रिंट, बोटांची छाप, बोटांच्या छापणी

fingerprint in Urdu

فنگر پرنٹ, فنگرپرنٹ

More languagesFewer languages

fingerprint in Bengali: আঙুলের ছাপ, ফিঙ্গারপ্রিন্ট, আঙ্গুলের ছাপ
fingerprint in Telugu: వేలిముద్ర
fingerprint in Malayalam: വിരലടയാളം, വിരലടയാളമുദ്രണം
fingerprint in Kannada: ಬೆರಲಚ್ಚು, ಬೆರಳಚ್ಚು, ಬೆರಳೊತ್ತು
fingerprint in Punjabi: ਫਿੰਗਰਪ੍ਰਿੰਟ, ਫਿੰਗਰ ਪ੍ਰਿੰਟ
fingerprint in Gujarati: ફિંગરપ્રિન્ટ, ફિંગરપ્રિંટ
fingerprint in Odia: ଫିଙ୍ଗର ପ୍ରିଣ୍ଟ, ଫିଙ୍ଗରପ୍ରିଣ୍ଟ, ଫିଙ୍ଗର୍ ପ୍ରିଣ୍ଟ
fingerprint in Nepali: फिंगरप्रिन्ट, फिङ्गरप्रिन्ट
fingerprint in Tagalog: tatak ng daliri, diit, bakas-daliri, tatak-daliri
fingerprint in Arabic: بَصْمَة baṣma
fingerprint in Malay: cap jari
fingerprint in Indonesian: sidik jari
fingerprint in Thai: ลายนิ้วมือ laai-níu-mʉʉ
fingerprint in Vietnamese: vân tay, dấu vân tay

Examples of fingerprint in a sentence

Maxwell gloved his hand so that he wouldn't leave fingerprints, then pulled the trigger.
One member of the check fraud team will zero in on the fingerprints.
Choose a dull finish to hide fingerprints.

All 40 example sentences with fingerprint

Synonyms of fingerprint

finger impression

Forms of fingerprint

Noun
plural	fingerprints
alternative form	finger-print
Verb
third-person singular present	fingerprints
present participle	fingerprinting
past participle	fingerprinted
past	fingerprinted

Plural of fingerprint: fingerprints

Origin of fingerprint

From finger + print.

Words formed from fingerprint

Phrases with fingerprint

Questions about fingerprint

What does fingerprint mean?: Fingerprint means the natural pattern of ridges on the tips of human fingers, unique to each individual.
What is fingerprint in Hindi?: Fingerprint in Hindi is फिंगरप्रिंट, फ़िंगरप्रिंट, उंगलियों की छाप. See Fingerprint meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is fingerprint?: Fingerprint can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce fingerprint?: Fingerprint is pronounced /ˈfɪŋɡɚˌpɹɪnt/ (US).
What is the plural of fingerprint?: The plural of fingerprint is fingerprints.

Words near fingerprint in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-fingerprint.ogg.

Cite this entry: “fingerprint.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fingerprint. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.